The Ohio Journal of - The Ohio Academy of Science

121 st Annual Meeting ● The Ohio Academy of Science ● Ashland University ● April 13-14, 2012 

The Ohio Journal of 

SCIENCE 

An International Multidisciplinary Journal 

Volume 112 April Program Abstracts 

Number 1

THE OHIO JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 

ISSN 0030-0950 

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FUTURE ACADEMY MEETINGS 

2012 April 13-14 at Ashland University, 

Ashland, Ohio 

Date of Issue—February 2012 

Copyright © 2012 by The Ohio Academy of Science 

Printing—CPMM, Columbus OH


An International Multidisciplinary Journal 

Vol. 112(1) 

The Ohio Journal of Science A-1 

Volume 112 No. 1 February 2012 

April Program Abstracts 


Lynn E. Elfner, Acting Editor 


1500 W. Third Ave. Ste. 228 

Columbus OH 43212-2817 

Phone (614) 488-2228 

FAX (614) 488-7629 

Email oas@iwaynet.net 

Website http://www.ohiosci.org 

Manuscript submission guidelines 

http://www.ohiosci.org/ojsinstr.htm 

Program Abstracts Editor 

Lynn E. Elfner assisted by Jaimie A. 

Crawford and Karen Newman 

OFFICERS 

President- Terry D. Keiser 

Chief Exec. Officer-Lynn E. Elfner 

President-Elect- Thomas Schmidlin 

Past President-Horton H . Hobbs, III 

Secretary-Don Grubbs 

Treasurer-Michael Herschler 

Junior Academy Council Director- 

David M. Weaner 

Student Advisory Council 

Director-Rachel Yoho 

The Ohio Journal of Science (ISSN 

0030-0950) is published in March, 

April, June, September, and December 

by The Ohio Academy of Science, 

1500 W Third Avenue Suite 228, Columbus 

OH 43212-2817. Individual 

membership and subscription: $75. 

Domestic institutional subscription: 

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members: $10; others $15. © 2012 

by The Ohio Academy of Science. 

All Rights Reserved. Printed in The 

United States of America. 

POSTMASTER: 

Send address changes to: 


1500 W Third Ave Ste 228 

Columbus OH 43212-2817 USA 

C o n t e n t s 

121 st Annual Meeting 


Theme: Undergraduate Research 

Hosted by 

Ashland University 


April 13-14, 2012 

Registration .................................................................................................. 2 

Parking ..........................................................................................................2 

General Schedule ....................................................................................... 2 

All-Academy Lecture ................................................................................. 2 

Official Notice of Business Meeting .................................................... 3 

About Our Host .......................................................................................... 3 

Motels and Restaurants .............................................................................3 

Introduction to Special Symposium: Water Quality of Ohio’s Lakes: 

Inland and Erie Revisited with Special Focus on Harmful Algal 

Blooms (HABs) .................................................................................................... 4 

Intoduction to Undergraduate Research Session ............................. 5 

Brief schedule of abstracts ..................................................................... 6 

Indices to Peer-Reviewed Abstracts and Undergraduate Research in 

Progress Summaries 

First Authors ................................................................................... 52 

Fields of Interest ............................................................................. 53 

Travel Directions to Campus ................................................................ 55 

Campus Map ............................................................................................ 55 

Ohio Environmental Science & Engineering Scholarship 

Application ............................................................................... 56-57 

Registration Form .................................................................................... 59 

Registration Policies ................................................................................. 60 

Cover photos: Ashland University Students conducting laboratory work or research 

in the Kettering Science Center laboratories: (clockwise from upper left): 

Rachel Day (’11) Biology ; Daphne Guinn (’11) Toxicology ; Jennifer (Miller) 

Tully (’11) Geology and Integrated Science; Yusuke Nakazawa (’10) Geology 

and Environmental Science and Victoria Goudy (’12) Chemistry. Credits: First 

photo by Jeremy Slagle, www.jerremyslagle.com; next three by EagleEye Photography/Allison 

Waltz Hoover, Copyright © 2012 Ashland University.

A-2 The Ohio Journal of Science 

Vol. 112(1) 



Hosted by Ashland University 


April 13-14, 2012 

ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING 

The Ohio Academy of Science’s Annual Meeting is for academic, governmental, 

and industry scientists and engineers, university and precollege 

educators and teachers, and pre-college, undergraduate, and 

graduate students, and interested lay citizens in the Ohio region. 

Welcome! 

Ashland University welcomes you to the 121” Annual Meeting of 

The Ohio Academy of Science. We invite you to explore our campus 

and to share in the excitement and opportunities provided in 

this program. 

REGISTRATION 

Registration is required for all meeting presenters and attendees. 

On-site registration will be available at a higher rate. The Ohio 

Academy of Science must receive forms by April 6, 2012. Please 

use Registration Form on the last page. Mail completed form and 

fee to : 


OAS Annual Meeting Registration 

PO Box 12519 


FAX 614.488.7629 (for Credit Card or PO only) 

Registration by credit card or purchase order only will be accepted 

by FAX at 614/ 488-7629. Your registration materials, receipt, 

and name tag will be ready at the meeting registration desk upon 

your arrival. For further information, please call 614/ 488-2228. 

An Adobe PDF form is available at: 

http: //www.ohiosci.org/ AshlandRegistrationForm.pdf 

Online payment option http: //ohiosci.org/ index_store.html 

Friday, April 13: Registration will not be open on Friday. 

Saturday, April 14: Registration in the lobby of Dwight Schar 

College of Education from 7:30 AM-2:00 PM. On-site registration 

at a higher rate is possible by check, VISA, or MasterCard. 

Cash is discouraged. 

PARKING ON CAMPUS: Watch for signs and see map in program. 

Please park in Lots B or C. Both lots have disabled parking. 

SMOKING POLICY: Smoking is not permitted in any building. 

HOUSING: Contact motels directly. See list on page 3. 

MEALS: Friday, April 13: none planned. Saturday, April 

14: Pre-ordered box lunches available in the Convocation Center. 

See registration desk for a list of on and off-campus restaurants. 

GENERAL SCHEDULE 

Friday, April 13, 2012 

3:00 PM-5:00 PM Board of Trustees Meeting 

Saturday, April 14, 2012 

7:30 AM-2:00 PM Meeting Registration in Lobby 

of Dwight Schar College of 

Education 

8:30 AM-11:00 AM Algae Symposium in Lecture Hall 

Dwight Schar College of Education 

9:00 AM-11 :00 AM Morning Podium and Poster 

Sessions in Dwight Schar College 

of Education 

11:15AM All-Academy Lecture 

Upper Convocation Center 

Parking available in adjacent lots. 

All-Academy Lecture Mentorship, A Key to Success in 

Research, Teaching and Life 

Dr. J. Patrick Card (Ashland University class of 1972) is 

Professor of Neuroscience and Co-Director of the Center for 

Neuroanatomy with Neurotropic Viruses at the University of 

Pittsburgh. 

The presentation will focus upon the importance of 

mentorship in developing a successful career in academia or 

industry. The mentorship relationships that Dr. Card has enjoyed 

throughout his career have proven to be essential to establishing a 

successful and rewarding research program in brain structure and 

function. Dr. Card will highlight how these relationships have 

evolved and guided his development as a scientist at various stages 

of his career, using the evolution of his research program as an 

example. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the importance 

of mentorship in acquiring the multidisciplinary expertise that is 

essential for success in research and teaching. 

Dr. Card graduated from Ashland University (then Ashland 

College) with a degree in Biology in 1972. He received his M.S. 

in Biological Sciences from Wright State University in 1975, 

and his Ph.D. in Neuroanatomy from Wayne State University 

in 1979. He has been a faculty member at the University of 

Pittsburgh since 1992, and currently serves as Professor in the 

Department of Neuroscience and is co-Director of the Center for 

Neuroanatomy with Neurotropic Viruses. The focus of Dr. Card’s 

research is the functional organization of the hypothalamus and 

central autonomic networks. This work includes studies to define

Vol. 112(1) 

the synaptic organization and chemical phenotype of the central 

networks that mediate essential regulatory functions, as well 

as the development of tools for transneuronal tracing of neural 

circuits. Dr. Card has authored or co-authored 95 peer-reviewed 

papers in neuroscience. 

12:00 Noon Announcement of Ohio Patent 

Awardees and Academy Fellows 

12:15 PM Official Notice of Annual Business 

Meeting for Academy Members 

only. 

12:30 PM Lunch. Pre-ordered box lunches in 

Upper Convocation Center. 

1 :30-4:00 PM Afternoon Poster Session in 


ABOUT OUR HOST 

Undergraduate Research 

Discussion Session in Kettering 

Science Center Room 112 

Algae Symposium Continues in 


Lecture Hall 

Prof. Michael R. Hudson, PhD 

Chairperson, Local Arrangements 

ounded in 1878, Ashland University is a private, compre- 

F hensive institution committed to challenging and supporting 

students intellectually, spiritually, socially, culturally and physically. 

Located midway between Cleveland and Columbus off 1-71, 

Ashland University is home to 2,200 full-time undergraduate students. 

Eighty-five percent of these students are from Ohio, while 

students also come from 27 other states and 31 countries. The 

University’s total enrollment is 6,000 students, and this includes 

graduate programs in business, education and theology and the 

off-campus centers in Cleveland, Columbus, Mansfield, Massillon 

and Elyria. In addition to its traditional undergraduate studies, 

AU offers alternative programs for adults and non-traditional 

students through the Founders School of Continuing Education. 

Degree completion, Associate degree, CEUs, and non-degree opportunities 

are available through a flexible format that includes 

online and evening classes. Post Secondary Education Option 

and Early College experiences are also available through the 

Founders School. Complementing the undergraduate program is 

a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, a Master of American 

History and Government; a Master of Business Administration 


Where to stay 


and Ashland University do not 

in any way endorse the following 

companies, products or services. 

This listing is provided as a resource 

only. There is no headquarters 

hotel or motel. 

Days Inn Ashland 

www.daysinn.com 

1423 County Road 1575 

Ashland, Ohio 44805 

(419) 289-0101 

Holiday Inn Express & Suites 

www.hiexpress.com 

1392 Enterprise Parkway 


(419) 281-2900 

Surrey Inn Motel 

www.surreyinnashland.com 

1065 Claremont Ave. 


(419) 289-7700 

Hampton Inn 

www.hamptoninn.com 

2220 S. Main St. 

Mansfield, Ohio 44907 

(419) 774-1010 

Travelodge Mansfield 

www.travelodge.com 

90 W. Hanley Rd. 

Mansfield, Ohio 44903 

(419) 756-7600 

College House Bed & Breakfast 

www.collegehousebb.com 

134 College Avenue 


(419) 289-2093 

Founders Hall 

degree; a Master of Education degree; a Doctor of Education in 

Educational Leadership; nusters degrees and a Doctor of Ministry 

degree through the Ashland Theological Seminary; an RN to 

BSN Track for registered nurses; and a Bachelor’s Plus program 

for students with a non-education degree who want to teach. 

Local Restaurants 

Jake’s Restaurant 

www.eatatjakes.com 

1040 Sugarbush Drive 


(419) 281-5253 

Buffalo Wild Wings 

www.buffalowildwings.com 

630 Claremont Ave 


(419) 281-9464 

Applebee’s 

www.applebees.com 



(419) 207-9088 

Sorella’s II Italian Restaurant 

www.sorellasii.com 



(419) 289-2200 

Bob Evans Restaurant 

www.bobevans.com 

1304 E. Main St. 


(419) 281-4729 

Perkins Restaurant 

www.perkinsrestaurants.com 

658 US 250 


(419) 281-0666


Vol. 112(1) 

Water Quality of Ohio’s Lakes: 

Inland and Erie Revisited 

Special Focus: Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) 

A Third Special Ohio Academy of Science Symposium 

on Declining Water Quality in Ohio’s Lakes 

See abstracts on page 7. 

Co-Sponsored by: The Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group 

121 st Annual Meeting of 


Hosted by Ashland University 

Dwight Schar College of Education Building 

Lecture Hall 

Saturday, April 14, 2012 

8:30 AM-4:00 PM 

Arranged by Julie Weatherington-Rice, Ph.D. 

Co-Coordinator Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group 

298 W. New England Ave. 

Worthington, Ohio 43085 

Phone 614-436-5248 

Fax 614-436-5239 

E-mail weatherington-ri.1@osu.edu 

Statement of Need/Purpose and Background of Topic 

his third special symposium presents a follow-up 

T to the 2008 Ohio Academy of Science Special Symposium 

“Declining Water Quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin, 

Increasing Invasion of Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria), 

and Increasing Levels of Soluble Reactive Phosphorus” and 

the 2010 Special Symposium “Water Quality of Ohio’s Lakes: 

Inland and Erie”. Cyanobacteria continue to plague Ohio’s 

inland lakes and the western end of Lake Erie, as well as lakes 

and reservoirs across the US and Canada. Last year (2010) 

20 Ohio lakes and beaches were closed for at least portions 

of the summer recreational season because of cyanobacteria 

blooms. There were 41 confirmed cases of health impacts to 

humans from contact with harmful algal blooms (HABs) and 

at least three dogs died from water contact with the toxins. 

Grand Lake St. Mary’s was closed again to water contact for 

part of the summer of 2011. A $5 million effort to remove 

dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) in the lake is ongoing. 

The watersheds surrounding the lake have been designated 

“Distressed Watersheds” by the Ohio Department of Natural 

Resources (ODNR) Div. of Soil & Water Resources, opening 

up the ability to require animal manure management plans for 

farms withholding just over 15 animal units, a significantly 

lower number than is traditionally overseen by the Ohio 

Department of Agriculture’s Confined Animal Feeding 

Operations (CAFO) oversight program. This designation 

brings the farms under potential regulation from 14 to 

approximately 300. 

Members of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s 

(EPA) Lake Erie Phosphorus Task Force continue to research 

the transport mechanisms from agricultural and urban settings 

to lakes. The researchers are now better able to identify the 

conditions that control the transport, and changes in soil 

and cropping management are being identified that can 

successfully reduce the DRP loadings to the lakes. In addition, 

water management structures (agricultural tile bioreactors) 

have been identified that can be used to remove nutrient 

loading from agricultural drainage tile discharge waters. A 

pilot project is funded which allows five of these structures to 

be built in Ohio this fall. The Ohio DRP research continues 

to be funded from a variety of sources including US EPA Great 

Lakes Protection Fund, the Ohio Lake Erie Fund, USDA, 

ODNR, Ohio Sea Grant, and Healing Our Waters. Much of 

the current and projected research efforts have been identified 

in the final version of the Ohio EPA’s Lake Erie Phosphorus 

Task Force report found on Ohio EPA’s web site at http:// 

www.epa.state.oh.us/portals/35/lakeerie/ptaskforce/Task_ 

Force_Final_Report_April_2010.pdf. 

The spring and summer of 2011 saw the first 

outbreaks of cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (HAB) 

beginning at Grand Lake St. Marys, Buckeye Lake and Blue 

Rock State Park. These lakes are much smaller than the western 

basin of Lake Erie and ostensibly warmed up more quickly. In 

addition, their watersheds are smaller so activities amenable to 

releasing nutrients are more quickly reflected in the changes in 

water quality. The sources of nutrients to Grand Lake St. Marys 

have been identified as animal manure which overloads the 

soils and washes into the lake. In contrast, the Buckeye Lake’s 

watershed has few animal facilities. The extra loading of DRP 

to the lake may be coming from changes in farming practices, 

including the timing and application processes of commercial 

fertilizer. Underscoring the complexity of this issue, watersheds 

of Buckeye Lake, old canal-feeder lake, and Blue Rock State Park 

likely will require different types of nutrient management than 

in Grand Lake St. Mary’s, also an old canal-feeder lake. 

Blooms of Microcystis did not return to the western end of 

Lake Erie and Maumee Bay until late July of 2011, a month 

later than 2010. While the blooms were significant, the wet, 

cool spring and early summer appears to have delayed the 

blooms, once again underscoring the importance of warmer 

temperatures as part of the triggering mechanism. In 2011, 

there have not been significant reports of Lyngbya wollei 

(and/or Plectonema wollei) in Maumee Bay or the western 

end of Lake Erie. 

B oth ODNR and the Ohio Department of Health have 

added information web links to their home pages to 

update the public about lake conditions at state parks and 

public health issues as well as the ongoing link at Ohio 

EPA’s web page. The ODNR web link can be found at 

http://wwwapp.epa.ohio.gov/dsw/hab/advisory_table. 

php. The Ohio Department of Health’s link is at HABs is 

on their Beach Monitoring page at http://www.odh.ohio. 

gov/odhprograms/eh/bbeach/beachmon.aspx. Ohio EPA’s 

Inland Lakes program page can be found at http://www. 

epa.state.oh.us/dsw/inland_lakes/index.aspx. In addition, 

the Ohio Lake Management Society, a division of the Water

Vol. 112(1) 

Management Association of Ohio, featured the problems of 

HABs in their Summer 2011 issue of their newsletter, Ohio 

Shorelines which can be downloaded from their web page at 

ftp://ftp.olms.org/pdf/Shorelines%20Summer%202011.pdf. 

They also co-sponsored a state-wide conference on HABs in 

Celina, Ohio (west end of Grand Lake St. Marys, Celina gets 

their drinking water from the lake) in March 2011 with the All 

Ohio Chapter of the Soil & Water Conservation Society. Four 

informative power point presentations from that conference 

are on their web site at http://www.olms.org/conference.php. 

Significance of Topic to Science and Society 

Including the Economy and Quality of Life 

For many years, the only economic cost reported in 

Ohio for HABs was the cost to the City of Toledo for 

activated carbon filtration to their raw water supply during 

the treatment process. The figure for the summer of 2009 was 

$3,000 to $4,000 per day for 90 days. There still are no reliable 

cost figures to the impacts to tourism along Lake Erie and at the 

islands or to the fishing industry in the western lake. A “dead 

zone” east of the islands remains. To this point, no economic 

cost has been assigned to that condition. 

With the ongoing efforts to remediate Grand Lake St. 

Marys, new costs have been established. Celina continues to 

use activated carbon filtration to render Grand Lake St. Mary’s 

water safe to drink. Approximately $150 million of the local 

economy comes from tourism associated with the lake. The 

local economy has been significantly impacted the last three 

years because of the conditions of the lake. A $5 million cleanup 

effort is underway to try to bind up phosphorus already in 

the lake with alum and/or to remove the high-phosphorus 

sediments from the bottom of the lake by dredging. This cost 

does not include any additional costs to the over 300 farms in 

the watersheds who now must manage their animal manures in 

a more environmentally responsible way. 

These are not the only lakes whose supporting regions have 

been impacted economically. Business people at Buckeye 

Lake were so concerned earlier this year that they contacted 

their State Senator, the Honorable Tim Schaffer, Lancaster, to 

help determine what recourses they had to turn around their 

economic losses due to the lake’s HAB outbreak. The Ohio 

Academy of Science arranged a conference call between the 

Senator and experts in the fields relating to HABs. Fortunately, 

the HABs dissipated in Buckeye Lake by the end of June and as 

of August 2011, have not returned. 

Undergraduate Research Session 

Dr. Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer, Presiding 

Kettering Science Center Lecture Hall Room 112, 

1:30 PM 

See abstracts at on page 51. 

Introduction 

major change in higher education in the 

A past three decades has been the increasing emphasis on 

the process of learning as opposed to strategies for teaching. 

More recently, the emphasis on learning has been described 


as transformative pedagogy. Such forms of learning are 

characterized by disciplinary integration, experiential learning, 

and problem-based learning. These active, engaged approaches 

to learning are often connected to service learning, civic 

engagement and/or leadership development. Undergraduate 

research is an extremely effective way to engage students with 

experiential learning. In undergraduate research, students 

conduct investigations that make an original intellectual 

contribution to the discipline. The benefits of such activity are 

many: (1) Student learning is enhanced through mentoring 

relationships with faculty; (2) Retention of students is 

increased; (3) Participation in undergraduate research increases 

enrollment in graduate education; and (4) Undergraduate 

research provides effective career preparation. Through such 

research projects, undergraduates develop an understanding of 

research methodology, and develop critical thinking, creativity, 

problem solving and intellectual independence. For faculty 

members, mentorship of undergraduates in research projects 

allows them to stay current in their research discipline, integrate 

their scholarship and teaching, and establish relationships with 

motivated students that continue long after graduation. 

Text derived from the materials and pedagogy of: 

—Project Kaleidoscope at AAC&U 

—The Council on Undergraduate Research 

Special Presentation: 

Mentoring Undergraduates for Success in Research 

Dr. S. Tonia Hsieh 

Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia 

Dr. S. Tonia Hsieh is an assistant professor of biology 

at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She started 

conducting research as a high school student at the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in California, 

because she wanted to learn what it feels like to be a rocket 

scientist. As an undergraduate at the University of California, 

Berkeley, she started a research project examining climbing 

gecko lizards, and ultimately discovered that geckos stick to 

surfaces using van der Waals forces. She then continued her 

studies at Harvard University, earning her Ph.D. in 2005. 

Tonia attributes her successes in research to having excellent 

mentors at every stage of her career. As a result, she has made 

undergraduate research and K-12 STEM education a priority 

in her research program, and has multiple undergraduates 

who have won awards for their research, as well as presented 

talks at national meetings. She has also recently started a 

science collaboration and K-12 educational outreach website 

(lizardbase.org) which serves as a data depository for scientific 

data while simultaneously offering inquiry-based curricula to 

K-12 classrooms, promoting direct student involvement in 

actual data collection activities before they arrive at college.


Vol. 112(1) 

Brief Schedule of Abstracts 

See First Author index on page 52 and Fields of 

Interest index on page 53. 

Harmful Algal Blooms Symposium 

8:30 AM-11:00 

1:30 PM-4:00 PM 

Dwight Schar College of Education Lecture Hall 

Undergradute Research Session 

1:30-4:00 PM 

Kettering Science Center Lecture Hall 

Room 112 

Concurrent Podium Sessions 9:00 AM-11:00 AM 

Session 1-Page 10 

Dwight Schar College of Education Room 103 

T.B.A. – Session Chair 










Multidisciplinary Poster Sessions 

Both in Dwight Schar College of Education, 

Second Floor. See abstracts for specific rooms. 

Morning 9:00 AM-11:00 AM-Page 18 

All fields of interest; See Fields of Interest 

index on page 53. 

Undergraduates, graduate students and 

professionals 

Afternoon Poster Session-1:30 PM-Page 37 

All fields of interest; See Fields of Interest 

index on page 53. 

Pre-college students 

Notes

Vol. 112(1) 

Water Quality of Ohio’s Lakes: Inland and Erie Revisited 

Special Focus: Harmful Algal Blooms 

Julie Weatherington-Rice, Presiding 

Dwight Schar College of Education Lecture Hall 

8:30 AM Welcome and Introduction 

From the land to the lakes 

8:35 DESIGN, INSTALLATION AND PERFORMANCE OF FIELD 

BIOREACTORS IN IOWA, ILLINOIS AND OHIO TO TREAT 

SOLUABLE NUTRIENTS IN DRAINAGE WATERS. Larry C. 

Brown brown.5@osu.edu , Matt Helmers mhelmers@iastate. 

edu, Richard Cooke rcooke@uiuc.edu , Bruce Atherton 

bruce.atherton@ia.usda.gov , Aleksandra Drizo adrizo@ 

uvm.edu , Kevin King king.220@osu.edu . Department of 

Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State 

University, 590 Woody Hayes Drive, Columbus, OH 43210-1058. 

Wood chip bioreactors have been installed in several 

Midwestern states to treat nitrate-nitrogen from 

agricultural subsurface drainage before discharging to 

surface water bodies. Research and demonstration of this 

innovative technology was initiated in the early 2000s in 

Illinois, then in Iowa in the late 2000s, and more recently 

in Ohio. These bioreactors were designed based on research 

from Illinois, from which draft design specifications were 

developed by Iowa State University and Iowa USDA- 

NRCS. The system consists of a bed or trench which is filled 

with wood chips and constructed adjacent to subsurface 

drainage laterals or mains. Depending on the field size, its 

subsurface drainage system layout, and available space, 

the bioreactor is designed to accept all or a large portion of 

the subsurface drainage flow that is diverted from the field 

drainage system. This technology enhances the natural 

processes of denitrification—the conversion of nitratenitrogen 

to nitrogen gas. Research from Illinois indicates 

changes in bioreactor inflow and outflow nitrate-nitrogen 

concentrations of between 20 and 90 percent. Similar 

reductions are being observed in Iowa. The work in Ohio 

was initiated recently, but similar results are expected. 

The percent reduction appears to be a function of inflow 

nitrate-nitrogen concentration, temperature, and residence 

time. Subsurface drainage flows are variable depending on 

time of year and precipitation amounts and durations, and 

therefore percent reductions are also variable. A summary of 

the work from each state will be presented, as well as design 

details, the application potential of the practice across the 

Midwest, and potential for capture of soluble phosphorus. 

8:45 STAKEHOLDER CRITERIA AND ECOLOGICAL MODEL: 

INFORMING SELECTION OF APPROACHES ADDRESSING 

HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN GRAND LAKE ST. MARYS. Harry 

J. Stone. stoneh@battelle.org , Tom Gulbransen, gulbran@ 

battelle.org , Henry Pate, pateh@battelle.org , Battelle, 10300 

Alliance Rd. Suite 155, Cincinnati, OH 45242. 

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) interfere with recreation and 

tourism at Grand Lake St. Marys (GLSM). Battelle was 

contracted by the Western Ohio Educational Foundation 

(funded by GLSM Restoration Commission and Ohio 

Department of Natural Resources) to design and implement 

a systematic screening process supporting selection of 

approaches to restore full lake enjoyment. Screening of 

75 potential technologies (received by stakeholders) will 

be followed by detailed evaluations and pilot testing of 

highly-ranked approaches. Battelle facilitated development 

of stakeholder consensus on criteria for screening proposed 

approaches. Each vendor proposing an approach was 

e-mailed a request for information (RFI) with questions 

addressing the consensus screening criteria. RFI responses 

were scored for each criterion. Multiple criteria decision 

analysis (Criterium Decision Plus© software) was used to 

build a model of weighted GLSM goals and criteria, and 

integrate the RFI responses to generate ranked matrices. 

The preliminary list of high-ranking approaches from the 

model was further screened using a conceptual ecosystem 

model to identify concerns specific to application of an 


approach at GLSM, e.g., high pH in the lake reduces 

efficacy of copper-based algaecides. Selected improvement 

strategies addressed long-term reduction of phosphorus 

loading (treatment of tributaries, and phosphorus removal 

or inactivation in lake sediments) and short-term disruption 

of cyanobacteria blooms and scum formation (aeration/ 

circulation and chemical and non-chemical algaecides). 

8:55 MICROCYSTIN CONCENTRATIONS INCREASING AT 

SELECT OHIO DRINKING WATER SOURCES, POSITIVE 

CORRELATION WITH pH AND WATER TEMPERATURE, AND 

IMPLICATIONS OF SURFACE SCUMS. Heather A. Raymond, 

heather.raymond@epa.state.oh.us , Ohio EPA Division of 

Drinking and Ground Waters, 50 West Town Street, Suite 700, 

Columbus, OH 43215; Holly Kaloz, holly.kaloz@epa.state. 

oh.us . 

In response to cyanobacteria blooms in 2010 and 2011, 

Ohio EPA collected 453 raw and finished cyanotoxin 

samples at 28 public water systems; seven water systems 

voluntarily collected an additional 227 samples. There 

was only one treated-water microcystin detection, but 

microcystin was detected in 65% of source waters sampled. 

Average microcystin concentrations in 2011 were four 

times higher at the City of Celina’s intake (maximum 

43.4 μg/L) and over 14 times higher at western Lake Erie 

basin water systems’ intakes (maximum >5 μg/l) compared 

with 2010 concentrations. Based on western Lake Erie 

basin data from 2011 (N=37), there was a moderate positive 

correlation between microcystin concentration and pH (R 2 = 

0.35) and water temperature (R 2 = 0.42), but there was no 

correlation between microcystin and turbidity. At Celina, 

a weak positive correlation was found between microcystin 

concentration and water temperature but correlations were 

not apparent between microcystin and pH or turbidity, 

potentially due to alum treatments and persistence of toxins 

throughout the winter. Another recent observation is toxin 

concentrations at water system intakes are often less during 

blooms that produce scums compared to blooms distributed 

throughout the water column. Since cyanobacteria blooms 

are often not visually apparent, Ohio EPA is using MERIS 

satellite data interpreted by NOAA to detect them remotely. 

Timely data help water systems determine when treatment 

should be optimized to remove cyanotoxins and taste and odor 

compounds. Targeting advanced treatment, which can cost 

over $100,000 per month, to when it is necessary provides a 

cost benefit to water systems. 

9:05 EFFORTS TO RESTORE GRAND LAKE ST MARYS FROM 

PHOSPHORUS OVERLOAD Tim Lovett, Chair, tlovett003@woh. 

rr.com , Grand Lake St. Marys Lake Improvement Association 

P.O. Box 118 Montezuma, Ohio 45866. 

Grand Lake St. Marys, located in western Ohio, is one of 

the original Ohio Canal feeder lakes. Built in the 1840s, it 

is approximately 80 square miles in area but averages only 

five feet in depth. Excessive soluble reactive phosphorus 

(SRP) loadings to Grand Lake St. Marys mostly from 

the agricultural watershed that houses a number of 

concentrated animal feeding operations, has fed massive 

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that resulted in posted 

health warnings of water contact during 2009, 20010 and 

2011.. The watershed is distressed due to excessive nutrient 

loading that has resulted in new agricultural rules. The 

Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Commission was formed, 

with twelve State, local and university members, to work 

with the Federal and State efforts to clean up and restore 

the lake. Eight steps have been identified to revive the 

lake: alum application; dredging; alternative and beneficial 

uses of organic waste; treatment train establishment and 

monitoring stations; rough fish removal; micronutrient 

modification; aeration and circulation; and water level 

management. Solutions identified and/or already in place 

include: Prairie Creek Treatment Plan Project; Barnes 

Creek Sediment Collector (installed Jan. 2011); Southmoor 

Shores Airy Gator; floating wetlands plantings (over 

5,000 floating wetland plantings in 2011, managed by 

volunteers); littoral wetlands in Prairie Creek Bay; in lake


Vol. 112(1) 

dredging; rough fish removal (local annual Carp Derby, 

begun June 2010); alum treatment (2011 and planned for 

2012); and a very active public awareness campaign. Due 

to a change in procedure, posted health warnings of HABs 

were reduced to beach areas only in 2011. 

9:15 LOOKING INLAND: OHIO RESERVOIR WATER QUALITY. 

Joseph D. Conroy, joseph.conroy@dnr.state.oh.us. Inland 

Fisheries Research Unit, Division of Wildlife, Ohio Department 

of Natural Resources, Hebron OH 43025. 

Ecosystem-based fisheries management relies on proper 

understanding of system productivity. In Ohio, fisheries 

scientists leverage basic limnological (temperature and 

dissolved oxygen, suspended sediments, and nitrogen 

and phosphorus concentrations) and lower trophic level 

(chlorophyll a concentration and phytoplankton and 

zooplankton abundances) data to effectively manage 

reservoir sportfish populations. These data, however, 

also provide an important reference to examine spatial 

and temporal water quality dynamics especially in light 

of intra-or extra-reservoir features. For example, a 

principal components analysis which explained > 88% of 

the variation in a rigorous limnological dataset (N =111 

spring and N =152 summer samples during 2003-2010) 

for three reservoirs (Acton, Pleasant Hill, and Burr Oak) 

which span a productivity gradient indicated significant 

seasonal (spring vs. summer) and annual differences. Acton 

seasonal observations related most closely to changes in 

non-volatile suspended sediment concentrations, Burr 

Oak seasonal observations related most closely to changes 

in Secchi transparency, and Pleasant Hill seasonal 

observations were intermediate. Although not surprising, 

these results emphasize the importance of annual seasonal 

inputs which set the stage for water quality problems and 

ecosystem productivity in Ohio reservoirs. 

9:25 Break 

9:35 SUMMER PHYTOPLANKTON COMMUNITIES IN PRO- 

DUCTIVE OHIO RESERVOIRS: IMPORTANCE OF CYANOBAC- 

TERIA, ECOREGION, AND LAND USE PATTERNS. Kyle C. Scotese, 

k.scotese@bsaenv.com , BSA Environmental Services, 

Inc. 23400 Mercantile Road Suite 8, Beachwood OH 44122; 

John R. Beaver, j.beaver@bsaenv.com; Alison D. Minerovic, 

a.minerovic@bsaenv.com; Claudia E. Tausz, c.tausz@bsaenv. 

com; Kristen M. Buccier, k.buccier@bsaenv.com. 

Described here are characteristics of phytoplankton 

communities of Ohio reservoirs with emphasis on the 

interrelationships among cyanobacterial populations, land 

use within three ecoregions, and associated environmental 

variables. Fifty-nine phytoplankton samples were collected 

from 25 mostly productive reservoirs located within three 

distinct ecoregions corresponding to intense agricultural 

land use (Eastern Corn Belt Plains), intermediate 

forestation and intermediate agricultural land use (Erie 

Drift Plain), and heavily forested land (Western Allegheny 

Plateau) between May and October in 2008 through 2011. 

Cyanobacteria populations peaked in late summer months 

and were dominated by nitrogen-fixing taxa only in Western 

Allegheny Plateau and Erie Drift Plain sites and commonly 

included Anabaena, Anabaenopsis, Aphanizomenon, 

and Cylindrospermopsis. Canonical correlation analysis 

suggests that both phosphorus and nitrogen limitation 

occur but the qualitative and quantitative characteristics 

of phytoplankton populations in Ohio reservoirs are 

strongly influenced by underlying land use practices. 

Coarse resolution at the ecoregion scale can be valuable 

in describing potential cyanobacteria composition where 

detailed nutrient budgets are not available for particular 

reservoirs and lakes. 

9:45 CITIzEN SCIENCE IN THE MUSKINGUM RIVER 

WATERSHED, OHIO. Dana M. Oleskiewicz, oleskiewicz@ 

windstream.net, Ohio Lake Management Society, 9092 

Willson Drive, Chagrin Falls OH 44023; Joseph D. Conroy, 

joseph.conroy@dnr.state.oh.us , Ohio Department of Natural 

Resources; John R. Beaver, BSA Environmental Services, Inc., 

j.beaver@bsaenv.com ; Kyle C. Scotese, k.scotese@bsaenv. 

com; and Alison D. Minerovic, a.minerovic@bsaenv.com . 

Solving water quality problems require sound scientific 

information and public support. Citizen science can 

provide both baseline data on water systems and the 

necessary connection between the local residents and 

their water resource. The CLAM project was initiated 

to increase Ohio’s ability to address emerging issues 

such as HABs, assist Division of Wildlife in fisheries 

decisions, and provide information to Muskingum 

Watershed Conservancy District MWCD for reservoir 

management Citizens need to identify water quality issues 

and implement strategies to solve problems. The Citizen 

Lake Awareness and Monitoring (CLAM) program has 

cultivated citizen scientists on Ohio lakes for 20 years. A 

partnership between CLAM and the Ohio Department of 

Natural Resources Division of Wildlife (DOW), along with 

the MWCD resulted in local residents taking an active role 

in documenting lake water conditions in the Muskingum 

River Watershed. Citizen scientists, as Lake Keepers, 

collected Level III Ohio Qualified Data on nine MWCD 

owned lakes in 2010 and 2011. They recorded seasonal 

water transparency, water temperature, dissolved oxygen 

profiles, and measured water samples to measure total 

nitrogen, total phosphorus, suspended sediment, and 

chlorophyll a concentrations. Protocols for monitoring 

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) were established to 

determine the presence of HABs, as well as to determine 

concentrations of cyanobacteria toxins.. Water monitoring 

results are archived in an on-line CLAM database (www. 

olms.org). Analyses and reports can be viewed by the 

public, as well as community leaders for making water 

quality improvements. 

9:55 MONITORING OF TOXIN-PRODUCING CYANOBACTERIA 

IN LITTORAL REGIONS OF THE MUSKINGUM RIVER 

WATERSHED, OHIO. Alison D. Minerovic, a.minerovic@bsaenv. 

com, BSA Environmental Services, Inc., 23400 Mercantile 

Road, Beachwood, Ohio 44122; Kyle C. Scotese, k.scotese@ 

bsaenv.com; Robert D. Davic, cdavic@yahoo.com, Ohio Lake 

Management Society; John R. Beaver, j.beaver@bsaenv.com; 

and Dana M. Oleskiewicz, Oleskiewicz@windstream.net, 

Ohio Lake Management Society. 

The Muskingum River Watershed is Ohio’s largest 

wholly contained watershed, covering about 20 percent 

of the state, and is heavily utilized for outdoor recreation. 

Reservoirs in the Muskingum River Watershed are 

located in two Ohio ecoregions: the Western Allegheny 

Plateau and Erie Drift Plain. Both ecoregions are more 

forested and less productive agriculturally than the 

Eastern Corn Belt Plain of western Ohio. Phytoplankton 

grab samples and raw water samples were collected by 

citizens trained by the Ohio Lake Management Society 

from littoral regions of nine reservoirs and analyzed for 

algal composition, nutrients, and cyanotoxins. Six times 

between July and October 2011, samples were collected 

from areas of each reservoir most frequented by the public 

such as docks and beaches. Seven of the nine lakes were 

consistently dominated by cyanobacteria between July and 

October, with an average biovolume of over 50%. Higher 

percentages of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria were found in 

more heavily forested sites based on GIS land use data. The 

most common cyanobacteria species in terms of biovolume 

was Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, which often reached 

concentrations typical of algal blooms. However, when 

tested for cylindrospermopsin, only two of 41 samples 

produced quantifiable concentrations > 0.1 μg/L between 

July and October. Out of 62 samples tested for microcystin, 

seventeen samples from August and September produced 

concentrations greater than the quantifiable threshold of 

0.15 µg/L. These results suggest a relationship between 

land use patterns and nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria taxa 

in Ohio reservoirs.

Vol. 112(1) 

10:05 GRAND LAKE ST. MARYS, OHIO: DISTRESSED 

DESIGNATION AND RULES IMPLEMENTATION. John W. 

Kessler, john.kessler@dnr.state.oh.us, Ohio Department of 

Natural Resources Division of Soil and Water Resources, 2045 

Morse Road, Building B-3, Columbus, OH 43229. 

During the summers of 2009 and 2010 many Ohio lakes 

exhibited harmful algal blooms. Grand Lake St. Marys 

had the highest levels of associated toxins. Consequently, 

the State of Ohio enacted regulations (Ohio Administrative 

Code 1501:15-5-01 to 1501:15-5-20) in early 2011 to establish 

a process for designating a watershed as ‘distressed’ due to 

excessive nutrients from agricultural sources. The regulations 

also increased requirements to handle and manage manure in 

distressed watersheds. A distressed designation depends on 

strong evidence linking the nutrient loading and subsequent 

algal blooms with poor water quality, threats to drinking 

water, recreation and public health, and other factors such 

as fish kills. Upon designation as a distressed watershed, 

and within a two year transition, manure must be managed 

according to an approved nutrient management plan and 

meet state and federal standards. The designation restricts 

land application of manure between December 15 and March 

1, or when the ground is frozen outside those dates. The Ohio 

Department of Natural Resources is implementing these 

rules on behalf of Ohioans. 

10:15-11:00 Q & A 

Afternoon Session 1:30 

In Lake Erie and the bays 

1:30 DISSOLVED OXYGEN IN LAKE ERIE: TEMPORAL, SPATIAL, 

AND WEATHER INFLUENCED TRENDS IN THE CENTRAL BASIN, 

SANDUSKY SUBBASIN, AND WESTERN BASIN. Maya, C. 

Hughes l , hughes.1251@osu.edu, 1562 Hunter Ave, Columbus, 

OH 43201, Phoenix Golnick 1,2, pgolnick001@defiance. 

edu, Douglas D. Kane1,2, dkane@defiance.edu. 1 F.T. Stone 

Laboratory, Put-In-Bay, OH 43456, 2 Defiance College, Natural 

Sciences and Mathematics Division, Defiance, OH 43512. 

In order to understand the effects of weather on 

stratification and dissolved oxygen in Lake Erie, sites in 

the central basin, Sandusky subbasin, and western basin 

were sampled once a week in June and July in 2011. A 

multiparameter sonde (YSI inc. 650 MDS) was used at 

each site to measure temperature, dissolved oxygen, and 

chlorophyll a every 0.5 m from the surface of the water 

to the bottom of the lake. Hypoxia was first observed on 

6 June 2011in the Sandusky Subbasin (1.93 mg/L). All 

sites (expect Ballast Island Deep in the western basin) 

were stratified at all dates sampled. Data were compared 

to 2010 in order to evaluate the effects of spring weather 

on stratification and dissolved oxygen. Spring weather 

differed between 2010 and 2011 (obtained from NOAA’s 

National Buoy Data Center (station 45005-W Lake Erie 

28NM Northwest of Cleveland, OH)), with a decrease in 

temperature and an increase in precipitation and storm 

events in 2011. Hypolimnion thickness and the depth of 

the start of the hypolimnion were significantly different 

between 2010 and 2011 (paired t-test, p=0.048; paired 

t-test, p=0.005). Further, a general linear model and 

interaction plot revealed a significant relationship between 

mean hypolimnion dissolved oxygen and month, basin, 

and basin with year, but not between years. Thinner and 

deeper hypolimnia in 2011 throughout all basins suggest 

an increase in vertical mixing as a result of a colder, wetter, 

and windier spring. Thus weather influences dissolved 

oxygen differently between the central basin, Sandusky 

subbasin, and western basin. 

1:40 EFFECTS OF NITROGEN DILUTION ON ALGAL GROWTH IN 

LAKE ERIE WATER SAMPLES, Nathan A. Arroyo, arroyo.7@osu. 

edu , The Ohio State University, 398 Alexandria Colony East, 

Columbus, OH 43215, Darren L. Bade, dbade@kent.edu , F.T. 

Stone Laboratory, Put-In-Bay, OH 43456, Kent State University, 

Dept of Biological Sciences, PO Box 5190, Kent OH 44242. 


As a result of nutrient pollution, Lake Erie suffers from 

many symptoms of eutrophication including algal blooms. 

Two bioassay dilution experiments were conducted to test 

the hypothesis that by lowering the amount of Nitrogen 

(N) in Lake Erie, the amount of algal growth would be 

limited. An initial dilution series (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%) 

was created by mixing Lake Erie water from near the 

South Bass Island Harbor entrance buoy with artificial 

lake water that lacked the major nutrients of phosphorus 

(P) and N for a total of 1.2L of water for each dilution 

percentage. The artificial lake water contained only the 

major ions found in Lake Erie water except Ca +2 and Si +4 

which were not readily available at the field station. In 

a second dilution series (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%) with water 

from the same site and also totaling 1.2L of for each 

dilution percentage, 10 µmol P/L was added to each sample 

to insure P was present in excess. All treatments were 

prepared in triplicate in BOD bottles, and incubated in situ 

for one week. Chlorophyll a was measured fluormetrically 

before and after the experiment as a surrogate for algal 

biomass. The same procedure was used with water from 

western Sandusky Bay and with the inclusion of Si +4 in 

the artificial lake water for the second experiment. The 

first experiment showed a slight positive growth with an 

average of 1.98 µg Chlorophyll a/L over all levels of the 

dilutions series that did not include P and higher positive 

growth average of 30.11 µg Chlorophyll a/L in the set of 

dilutions with added P. However, with excess P, the effect 

of increasing dilution showed growth decreased as the 

concentration of nitrogen decreased from a 0% dilution 

average of 46.20 µg Chlorophyll a/L to a 60% dilution 

average of 20.27 µg Chlorophyll a/L. The average growth 

of all treatments in the second experiment was negative, 

but the growth in the P added sets was on average 10.24 

µg Chlorophyll a/L less negative than the control. In the 

experiments, P was a limiting nutrient at both locations. 

1:50 PHOSPHORUS, NITROGEN AND MAUMEE BAY ALGAE 

GROWTH: FOCUS ON CONCENTRATION. Justin D. Chaffin, 

Justin.chaffin@rockets.utoledo.edu , Thomas B. Bridgeman, 

Thomas.bridgeman@utoledo.edu . Department of 

Environmental Sciences and Lake Erie Center, University of 

Toledo, 6200 Bayshore Rd. Oregon OH 43616. 

Harmful algae blooms caused by excess nutrients are 

becoming more common in Maumee Bay (MB) of western 

Lake Erie. Phosphorus (P) concentrations are too high, but 

reducing nitrogen (N) may improve water quality. Dilution 

assays were conducted with MB water on June 27, July 

15, and August 5 2011 to test this hypothesis. MB water 

containing known concentrations of algae and nutrients 

was diluted with filtered (no algae) low-nutrient central 

basin water and/or filtered MB water; therefore both P and 

N were reduced (-PN) ranging from 20% to 100% of initial 

MB. Further, N was added back to a set for effect of P-only 

reduction (-P) and P added to another set for the N-only 

reduction effect (-N). Algae growth rates were calculated 

from initial and final chlorophyll a (chla) measurements. 

In all experiments, -P and -PN reduced growth rate up to 

83% and resulted in similar curves, while -N only reduced 

growth by 36%. These results indicate that N reductions 

may not be as effective as P reduction in reducing algal 

blooms. Monod growth parameters predict P-limited 

growth is 50% of maximum growth when P:chla ratio is 

0.9 mg/mg. Further growth limitation is observed at lower 

P:chla ratios. If a desirable level of P-limited chla in MB is, 

for example, 10 mg/L, then P should be 9 mg P/L. Dissolved 

P concentration in MB is extremely variable but averages 

about 20 mg P/L; therefore a reduction in P concentration 

of more than half is required to achieve a 10 mg/L chla 

target. 

2:00 INDICATORS OF PHOSPHORUS LIMITATION IN LAKE ERIE. 

Leigh A. Martin, Imarti33@kent.edu , Darren L. Bade, dbade@ 

kent.edu , Kent State University, Dept of Biological Sciences, 

PO Box 5190, Kent OH 44242.


Vol. 112(1) 

Despite ongoing efforts to reduce phosphorus loads in 

Lake Erie since the 1970s, eutrophication continually 

causes fish kills from anoxia, vascular plant and periphytic 

phytoplankton losses, and potential health risks from 

harmful algae blooms. While phosphorus (P) is typically 

considered the dominant limiting nutrient to algal 

growth in freshwater systems, prior evidence has shown 

that this is not always the case in Lake Erie; the project 

hypothesized that trends of increased soluble reactive P 

loading will cause other factors besides P to be limiting. 

Additionally, the project hypothesized that phosphorus 

limitation should be more likely in offshore regions, 

congruent to the nearshore phosphorus shunt hypothesis. 

Water samples were taken from eight transects spanning 

nearshore to offshore depths throughout the lake in 

June and August and from two transects in the Central 

Basin in July. We measured two indicators of phosphorus 

limitation. The P-debt assay, which measures radioactive 

P incorporation relative to chlorophyll a concentrations, 

indicates P limitation (>0.075 μmole P/μg chl a) at the 

Cattaraugus Creek and Westfield transects in August. 

There was no pattern of increasing P limitation from 

nearshore to offshore. P turnover time, which measures 

the turnover time of soluble reactive P relative to algal 

or bacterial uptake, revealed P limitation ( 0.05), which differed from previous analyses we 

conducted. However, cyanobacterial SAB has significantly 

increased with time in both the western (r 2 = 0.46, P < 

0.01) and central basins (r 2 = 0.55, P < 0.01) of Lake Erie. 

Further analyses of the timing of soluble phosphorus loads 

and other nutrients (i.e., nitrate) and their correlations 

with cyanobacterial biomass may be warranted. 

2:20 SATELLITE MULTISPECTRAL COMPOSITIONAL MAPPING 

OF LAKE CYANOBACTERIAL BLOOMS (US PATENT NO. 

7,132,254) AND LAND CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS. Robert K. 

Vincent, rvincen@bgsu.edu. Department of Geology, Bowling 

Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0211. 

Recent advances in satellite mapping of chemical 

compounds and elemental content on both water 

and on land have opened new means to quantitative 

environmental monitoring that has a denser net of 

measurement sites (about 5 measurements per acre with 

LANDSAT TM data), is less expensive per measurement 

than traditional in situ methods, delivers more timely 

data, and has synoptic coverage when needed. Examples 

include specific pigments in cyanobacteria blooms in Lake 

Erie (resolution down to ppb), total phosphate content in 

surface waters of lakes and rivers (10 ppb rms error), total 

phosphate concentration in bare soil (ppm), and others. The 

methodology for producing quantitative algorithms that 

convert satellite multispectral image data into contents 

of elements or chemical compounds could possibly be 

used for mapping the areal extent of at least some specific 

pollutants (such as oil, pcb, pesticides and herbicides) that 

have formerly been untimely detected and too expensive 

to map with in situ sensors. Ongoing research is required 

to discover which pollutants have the greatest probability 

of being mapped. Remotely piloted aerial sensor platforms 

could also be well employed for such work. 

2:30-4:00 Q&A and Summary 

Individual Podium Session # 1 

Schar Room 103 

T.B.A. – presiding 

09:00 THE DETERMINATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF 

CHTHAMALUS FRAGILIS IN A NORTHERN FLORIDA SALT 

MARSH Brittany A Bianco, b-bianco.1@onu.edu, Kandoi Doi 

k-doi@onu.edu, Garett D Fruchey, g-fruchey@onu.edu, (Brian 

E Keas b-keas@onu.edu), Department of Biological and Allied 

Health Sciences, Ohio Northern University, 525 S. Main St., 

Ada OH 45810 

Chthamalus fragilis is a widespread barnacle attached to a 

variety of hard substrates in the high intertidal zone along 

the eastern coast of the USA. Along the northern Gulf of 

Mexico, C. fragilis often attaches to the stems of smooth 

cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora. Previous research has 

shown a strong affinity for attachment to already colonized 

stems (gregarious behavior, common to barnacles) and to 

sites in the axillary regions of the plants, but the overall 

distribution of barnacles within a salt marsh has not been 

studied. This study established a series of three transects 

from open water to upland elevations in a salt marsh at 

Wakulla Beach, Wakulla County, Florida. Four quadrats 

along each transect were used to sample the vegetation 

(species, height, number, density) and the attached fauna, 

including C. fragilis and the marsh periwinkle, Littoraria 

irrorata. For C. fragilis, data collection focused on the 

number, size and distribution on individual stems. Data 

were then analyzed using correlation analyses to examine 

the patterns of barnacle distribution among a seawardlandward 

gradient, vegetation density, and associations 

with L. irrorata. 

09:15 SEASONAL DISTRIBUTIONS AND COMPOSITIONS 

OF BENTHIC COMMUNITIES IN A LIMESTONE QUARRY 

DISCHARGE INFLUENCED STREAM REACH.Dawn T. DeColibus, 

d-decolibus@onu.edu, Bethany J. Blakely, b-blakely@onu. 

edu, Leslie A. Riley, l-riley.1@onu.edu (advisor), Robert G. 

Verb, r-verb@onu.edu (advisor), Department of Biological 

and Allied Health Sciences, Ada, OH 45817 

Riley Creek is an intermittent, third-order stream located 

in the Till Plains of Allen County, in west-central Ohio. 

Near Bluffton, Ohio, along Interstate 75, a portion of Riley 

Creek receives effluent from a limestone quarry operated by 

the Bluffton Stone Company. The water discharged by the 

quarry is elevated in concentrations of calcium carbonate 

which lead to marl deposits on the benthos of the river. 

To determine if quarry waters influenced the composition 

and distribution of lotic communities, upstream and 

downstream sites were sampled seasonally from fall 

2010 - summer 2011. Twelve sites, six upstream and six 

downstream of the quarry discharge, were sampled for 

aquatic organisms (e.g., macroinvertebrates, macroalgae,

Vol. 112(1) 

and diatoms) and physical and chemical parameters (e.g., 

current velocity, pH, total alkalinity). Current velocities 

(ANOVA, p < 0.001) and macroinvertebrate taxanomic 

richness (ANOVA, p < 0.05) increased in sites below the 

quarry discharge. Neither macroalgae (ANOVA, p = 0.78) 

or diatom richness (ANOVA, p = 0.21) differed relative 

to the discharge point. However, the upstream diatom 

communities contained a higher percentage (ANOVA, p < 

0.05) of motile diatoms with well-developed raphe systems. 

The dominance of these types of diatoms (e.g., Pinnularia, 

Nitzschia, Surirella) and lower macroinvertebrate richness 

in the upstream sites may indicate an influence of the marl 

floculant settling onto the benthos from the discharging 

quarry water. 

09:30 DIURNAL VARIATIONS IN ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION 

OF THYMUS VULGARIS AND DETERMINATION OF THE 

CONSTITUENT’S SYNERGISTIC ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY. 

Sarah Kradel (s-kradel@onu.edu) [Vicki Abrams Motz 

(v-motz@onu.edu), Linda Young (l-young@onu.edu), 

Christopher Bowers (c-bowers@onu.edu)] 402 W. College 

Avenue, Unit 3585, Ada, OH 45810 

The proportion of components in the essential oil is used to 

determine the chemotype, distinguishing between variant 

species. This study examines essential oil composition of 

Thymus vulgaris plants and diurnal variations of oil within 

them. Thymol, the predominant phenolic component 

of Thymus vulgaris, has been used as an antimicrobial 

agent. Preliminary testing in this lab indicates that 

ethanolic extracts of Thymus vulgaris exhibit greater 

antibiosis against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus 

aureus (MRSA) than the corresponding concentration of 

thymol alone, indicating synergistic activity. This study 

explores possible synergism between the constituents: 

thymol, carvacrol, linalool, and p-cymene. Ten, 3 year 

old Thymus vulgaris plants grown organically in full sun, 

unsupplemented beyond rainfall, were harvested, on the 

day of a full moon, at the end of the growing season, at 8am, 

at noon, and at midnight. Plants were dried, extracted 

in 95% ethanol, and reconstituted to a concentration 

of 1.000g thyme/mL ethanol. Samples were analyzed 

utilizing Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectroscopy (GC/ 

MS), determining levels of the four compounds. Thymol 

concentrations decreased significantly (p 0.24) 

then diverged thereafter; fish in the 1% and 3% BW/d 

treatments had 1.2 and 2.7‰ higher δ 15 N and δ 13 C values, 

respectively, than the 0% BW/d treatment (F 2,190 > 27.7, 

p < 0.001), indicating artificial feed supplemented tissue 

growth only after week 3. Fish growth rates only differed 

(F 2,763 > 5.4, p < 0.005) once fish relied on artificial feed post 

week 3 (growth rates = 2.2, 2.1, and 3.1% BW/d in 0%, 1%, 

and 3% feeding treatments, respectively). Because artificial 

feed only enhanced catfish growth after week 3, providing 

artificial feed before this time seems unnecessary. 

10:15 MAPPING 3C-LIKE PROTEASE CLEVAGE SITES IN THE 

R78 REGION OF MAIzE CHLOROTIC DWARF VIRUS, Yujing 

zhao, yzhao12@wooster.edu, College of Wooster, C-3131, 

1189 Beall Avenue, Wooster, OH, 44691, (Lucy R. Stewart) 

USDA-ARS Ohio Agricultural Research and Development 

Center. 1680 Madison Ave. Wooster, OH 44691. 

Maize chlorotic dwarf virus (MCDV) causes severe stunting, 

chlorosis of tertiary veins and leaf tearing in corn. It 

is prevalent in the southeastern US and is considered the 

second major corn virus disease in the USA and thus understanding 

the genome of MCDV remains an important 

task. The major Open Reading Frame (ORF) in the single 

stranded RNA genome of MCDV codes for a 389 kDa polyprotein 

which is cleaved into smaller functional proteins 

by the virus-encoded 3C-like protease. The polyprotein 

is processed into a 78 kDa protein from the N-terminus 

(R78). Previous studies have suggested that in MCDV-Severe 

strain (MCDV-S), R78 is processed further, with one 

possible autocatalytic cleavage site (R78 self-cleavage) and 

a site cleaved by the 3C-like protease (not part of R78). It 

is hypothesized that after in vitro translation of R78, its 

autocatalytic proteolytic activity will cleave itself into P60 

and P15, and that after co-translation of R78 and protease, 

the P60 region will be further cleaved into P35 and 

P25. Lower ratios of R78:protease and longer incubation 

times may facilitate cleavage. In this study, the in vitro 

system testing the cleavage sites within R78 used were 

the TnT® SP6 High-Yield Wheat Germ Protein Expres-


Vol. 112(1) 

sion System and the TnT® SP6 Coupled Reticulocyte Lysate 

System. The systems were optimized by adjusting the 

Western Blot protocol to reduce the background. Current 

results show that increasing Tween-20 concentration can 

reduce the background in Western Blot and lower ratios 

of R78:protease introduces more effective cleavage. This 

study will contribute to the better determination of R78 

proteolytic sites and explore the MCDV genome in ways 

that have not been studied before. 

10:30 A CHORD LEFT UNRESOLVED: MANDATED MUSIC 

PROGRAMS AND STATE STANDARDIzED TEST SCORES 

IN RICHLAND COUNTY, OHIO. Kathleen A. Williams 

(williams.2982@osu.edu) (2755 Lexington Avenue, 

Apartment B-21, Lexington, OH, 44904) & Rachel J. Sommers 

(rsommers0@gmail.com) Christian Winterbottom, Ph. D. 

(winterbottom.4@osu.edu) (1760 University Drive, Mansfield, 

OH, 44906) 

School reform efforts and related emphasis on tougher 

standards and accountability have significantly influenced 

teachers’ approaches to teaching and learning in our 

nations’ music classroom environments. The goals of this 

research were twofold; First, determine if there has been 

an impact on state standardized math and reading scores 

in third, fourth, and fifth grades in public elementary 

schools in Richland County, Ohio. Second, examine 

perceptions of administrators towards music programs. 

Data from 2007-2010 were used to determine the impact 

on the standardized scores. Test scores were analyzed 

in over 50 elementary programs using crosstabulation 

analysis in SPSS to determine if the scores increased or 

decreased in each of the aforementioned years. Research, 

which has focused on students who participate in music 

education confirms that students do better than their 

peers on many measures of academic achievement such 

as grade-point averages and standardized tests music 

programs.Therefore, the hypothesis was that school 

districts that eliminated music programs from their 

schools and where administrators had low perceptions 

towards music programs would score low on standardized 

tests. Analysis of third grade data indicated that reading 

scores increased from 2007 through 2011; third grade 

math scores dropped dramatically from 2009-2010, but 

increased in 2011. Fourth grade scores remained did not 

increase/decrease between 2007-2011. However, reading 

scores for fifth grade decreased dramatically from 2009- 

2010, but increased in 2011. Moreover, fifth grade math 

scores have increased greatly. 

10:45 SEASONAL CHANGE IN ANTI-PREDATOR BEHAVIOR 

OF DAPHNIA Patricia A. Saunders (psaunder@ashland. 

edu), Dept. of Biology and Environmental Science Program, 

Ashland University, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805, 

Rachael E. Glover (rglover14@jcu.edu), Dept. of Biology, John 

Carroll University, University Heights, OH. 

Lake studies have found zooplankton using spatial 

refuges benefit from reduced exposure to predators. In 

many systems, such a refuge is at deeper, darker depths, 

where they are less visible during the day (diel vertical 

migration, DVM). In shallow lakes that lack a deep refuge, 

vulnerable zooplankton species may move into or out of 

plant-rich edge habitat during the day (diel horizontal 

migration, DHM). Sites Lake is a small, eutrophic, kettle 

lake (Richland Co., OH). Despite it being relatively deep 

(Z max ~ 12.5 m), mature individuals of the larger cladoceran 

species (Daphnia dentifera) leave the lake center during 

the day and return at night, and there was no evidence 

of diel vertical migration. It was found that DHM does 

not occur in spring, but is consistently observed in late 

summer-fall months (Jul-Oct). This seasonal change in 

behavior may indicate a seasonal change in environment. 

It was hypothesized that seasonal decrease in oxygen levels 

(< 1 mg/L) reduces the effective value of mid-water column 

habitat. Samples from Apr-Oct were used to identify the 

timing of DHM onset in 2008. These data were compared 

to environmental profiles covering the same time-frame 

(temperature, o C; water clarity, m; dissolved oxygen, 

mg/L). This analysis found that in the time frame when 

this Daphnia population switched to significant DHM 

(>75% increase in abundance at night, P < 0.05), habitat 

volume between the thermocline and anoxic depths 

decreased by 50%. Altogether, these data are consistent 

with the predator-avoidance hypothesis to explain diel 

migration behaviors. 



T.B.A. – Presiding 

09:00 INVESTIGATION OF THE FORMATION OF ORAL 

BIOFILMS. Lauren Young 1 (lmy5@zips.uakron.edu), J. 

Kyle Miller 2 (jkm29@uakron.edu), Hope Badawy 1 (hope. 

badawy@gmail.com), Amy Milsted 1,2 (milsted@uakron.edu). 

University of Akron, 302 Buchtel Commons, Akron OH 44325. 

1 Department of Biology, University of Akron. 2 Program in 

Integrated Bioscience, University of Akron 

An oral biofilm is a community of more than 800 species 

of bacteria in a matrix of extracellular DNA, proteins, 

and polysaccharides, forming a structure called plaque 

on surfaces in the mouth. The objective of this research 

was to establish laboratory conditions that allowed the 

study of how oral biofilms form. Bacteria investigated 

were Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. 

S. mutans is reportedly involved in early stages of biofilm 

formation and L. rhamnosus in more mature biofilms. 

Static cultures of each species, as well as a mixed culture, 

were grown on glass coverslips. Through image analysis on 

a scanning laser confocal microscope using a LIVE/DEAD 

staining kit, seeding order of bacteria was observed. For 

the three experimental groups, an average cell density 

was obtained after analysis using a quartile-based 

nonparametric test, using only non-outlier data. Average 

cell density for S. mutans was 41.3 ± 2.8 cells/mm², L. 

rhamnosus was 15.4 ± 4.3 cells/mm², and the mixed culture 

was 41.0 ± 8.3 cells/mm². Through analysis of scanning 

laser confocal microscope images, it was found that in the 

laboratory, S. mutans grows in a pattern similar to that in 

the mouth. They adhered first to the clean coverslip and 

more cells adhered in a given time period. L. rhamnosus 

showed less adhesion of cells and preferentially adhered 

to surfaces where S. mutans were already seeded. These 

results established that the laboratory conditions were 

appropriate for studying the growth and development 

of oral biofilms and their responses to antimicrobial 

treatments. 

09:15 Sry GENE EXPRESSION IN TGR(mRen2)27 RATS. Fabiana 

Alves 1 , alves.bio@gmail.com, Robson Augusto Souza 

Santos 1 , marrob@dedalus.lcc.ufmg.br, Amy Milsted 2 , milsted@ 

uakron.edu, Helen Lima DelPuerto 1 ,helendelpuerto@ 

hotmail.com, Jeremy Prokop 2 , jwp7@zips.uakron.edu, 

Francisco Oliveira Vieira 1 ,chicobrant@gmail.com, Sarah 

Fonseca Martins 1 sarahebreia@yahoo.com.br, Deborah 

Ribeiro Nascimento 1 ,deborahrn18@yahoo.com.br, Rita 

de Cássia Oliveira 1 , ritaao1@yahoo.com.br, Almir Sousa 

Martins 1 ,alisbetermster@gmail.com, Av. Antônio Carlos, 

6627 Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 31270901. 

1 Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of 

Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, 

Brazil. 2 University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325. 

Sry locus on Y chromosome encodes a transcription factor 

involved in the regulation of blood pressure. Other genes 

are involved in control mechanisms of the cardiovascular 

system. Well defined experimental models are needed 

to clarify the role of each gene. TGR(mRen2)27 is a 

transgenic hypertensive rat expressesing renin and a 

model to study Sry role in the pathophysiology of hypertension. 

The objective of this study was to analyze Sry gene expression 

in adrenal gland, kidney, atrium, testis and brain cortex 

from six normotensive Sprague Dawley(SD) rats and six

Vol. 112(1) 

TGR rats to determine whether Sry was influenced by the 

presence of the transgene. Sry expression was analyzed 

by real-time PCR. Higher expression of Sry was observed in 

brain cortex (p=0.011) and atrium (p=0.033) of TGR compared to 

SD. Tissue distribution of Sry showed higher expression in brain 

cortex compared to adrenal gland, kidney and testis (p=0.035) in 

TGR rats but no differences in SD rats. The results indicate that the 

transgene has an effect on Sry expression. Sry expression here, 

in both strains, is likely to exert its effects on BP at the 

levels of tyrosine hydroxylase(Th) and renin-angiotensin 

system(RAS) genes. Atrium overexpression of Sry in TGR 

may account for upregulation of heart RAS, leading to increased 

cardiac output consequences in hypertension. Whether Sry in the 

TGR brain cortex or atrium acts by modulating expression of either 

Th system or by increasing local RAS activity that results in 

more Ang II has yet to be explored in this model. 

09:30 HIND III DIGESTION OF HYALELLA DNA FOR SEX AND 

GENOMIC DIFFERENTIATIONS. Sarah Fonseca Martins 1 , 

sarahebreia@yahoo.com.br, Alessandra Angélica de Pádua 

Bueno 1 , alebueno@dbi.ufla.br, Fabiana Alves 2 , alves.bio@ 

gmail.com, Deborah Ribeiro Nascimento 2 , deborahrn18@ 

yahoo.com.br, Helen Lima Del Puerto 2 , helendelpuerto@ 

hotmail.com, Almir Sousa Martins 2 , alisbetermster@gmail. 

com, 1 Universidade Federal de Lavras, Depart of Biology, 

Lavras, MG, Brazil 37200000 and, 2Universidade Federal 

de Minas Gerais, Depart of Fisiology and Biophysics, Belo 

Horizonte, Brazil 31270901. 

Hyalella belongs to the Amphipoda order of freshwater and 

humid soils inhabitants of the Americas. There are three 

complexes H. azteca, H. patagonica and H. curvispina, 

morphologically separated with adaptive differences to 

several habitats. Genomic differences are consequences 

of their isolation and specialization. Morphological and 

molecular approaches aim for better identification of cryptic 

species and the understanding of their multivariable 

complex morphotaxonomy. This work reports the use of a 

simple method of genomic DNA extraction combined with 

DNA restriction digestion by Hind III, for sex identification 

and genome differentiation of six Hyalella species. DNA 

from 188 specimens were extracted using 3 different 

methods. All methods yielded the same amount of DNA. 

The mean ± SD of total DNA μg/μL were: 1,606 ± 2,113; 

15,704 ± 8,601; 9,664 ± 13,716; 0,088 ± 0,035; 1,667 ± 0,620 

and 18,241 ± 35,042 for Hyalella sp 1, H. curvispina, H. 

warming, H. pampeana, H. castroi and H. montenegrinae, 

respectively. Restriction fragments were visualized 

through comparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis 

after staining in silver nitrate. Hind III were clearly 

visualized for each species after digestion. A fragment 

of approximately 500 bp was present only in females 

and could be used for sex determination. Genomic DNA 

digestion results showed differences among Hyalella from 

two different regions of Brazil. This method represents a 

promising tool for future sex and species differentiation 

studies. 

09:45 SHORELINE RECOVERY AND THE NEARSHORE FISH 

COMMUNITY Kristen M. Woodling kristen.woodling@ 

utoledo.edu, Jason E. Ross Jason.ross@utoledo.edo, Christine 

M. Mayer christine.mayer@utoledo.edu, University of Toledo 

Dept of Environmental Science and Lake Erie Center, 6200 

Bayshore Rd, Oregon OH, 43616. 

Human activity has substantially altered Great Lakes’ 

shorelines; these changes including rip-rap, bulkhead, 

managed beach, interfere with natural ecosystem 

processes. The purpose of this study was to determine the 

effect of shoreline alteration on the near shore (0-2 m depth) 

fish community in western Lake Erie. The hypotheses of 

this study were that highly altered shorelines would have 

1) relatively less fish biomass, 2) more non-indigenous 

species and 3) lower fish diversity. 500 meters of shoreline 

were electrofished by boat during day and night (May- 

August 2011) at 20 sites along the southern shoreline of 

the western basin of Lake Erie. Sites were categorized as 

altered if they had bulkheads, rip-rap with no vegetation, or 


were a managed beach (n=10). Sites were called recovering 

if they had vegetation over rip rap or other structures, 

large woody debris, or were unmanaged beaches (n=8). 

Sites were unaltered if there was no human alteration 

(n=2), both were cliff faces. Statistical comparisons of fish 

biomass and number of species at unaltered sites were 

not made because of the small number of sites. Altered 

sites were compared to those in the process of recovery 

using a t-test that did not assume equal variance. The 

number of species was significantly higher at recovering 

sites (altered mean=9.9 species, 1SD=4.65; recovering 

mean=18.88 species, 1SD=2.43; t-test p=0.0004). However, 

fish biomass did not differ (altered mean=2,648g per site, 

1SD=1,943; recovering mean=3,933g, 1SD=2,081; t-test 

p=0.077). Factors other than shoreline condition, such as 

bottom structure and food availability, may influence fish 

biomass. 

10:00 CHANGES IN THE LARVAL FISH COMMUNITY OF THE 

MAUMEE RIVER LACUSTUARY. Robert Mapes, Robert. 

mapes@rockets.utoledo.edu, Jeremy Pritt Jeremy.pritt@ 

rockets.utoledo.edu , Mark Dufour mrdufour@yahoo.com, 

Chris Mayer Christine.mayer@utoledo.edu 2024 Lilias Dr. 

Oregon, OH 43616. 

The Maumee River lacustuary is an important spawning 

and nursery habitat for migratory Lake Erie fishes. 

Abundance and diversity of larval fish exported to the 

lake in the years 2010 and 2011 were compared to data 

from similar studies conducted in 1976 and 1977. An 

increase in the overall density and diversity of larval fish 

was expected because of improved water quality in the 

lacustuary since enactment of the Clean Water Act of 1972. 

Larval fish were collected from the mouth of the Maumee 

River during spring and summer (April-June) of 2010 and 

2011 by towing paired ichthyoplankton nets. Fish were 

counted and identified to the lowest possible taxon with 

all samples identified to the family level. No significant 

changes were observed in the total density of larval fish 

(ANOVA, P = 0.3404) or weekly family diversity using 

the Simpson Index (ANOVA, P = 0.3644). Examination 

at the family level showed a significant increase in the 

density of the Percidae family (ANOVA, P = 0.01692) in 

the current study years. Family richness increased from 

six to ten taxon and percent family composition differed 

(Chi-squared, P < 0.0001) with the Sciaenidae family 

(freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens) representing a 

larger proportion of the community. The hypothesis that 

improved water quality will result in higher densities of 

fish was not supported. However an increase in Percidae 

family abundance and overall family richness in addition 

to a change in the composition of the community was 

observed. 

10:15 A GENETIC HISTORY OF WALLEYE (SANDER VITREUS) 

SPAWNING IN CATTARAUGUS CREEK OF THE SENECA 

NATION: A COMPARISON OF TWO GENOMES. Hillary A. Dean, 

hillary.dean@rockets.utoledo.edu, Amanda E. Haponski, 

amanda.haponski@rockets.utoledo.edu, Carol A. Stepien, 

carol.stepien@utoledo.edu University of Toledo, Great 

Lakes Genetics Laboratory, Lake Erie Center and Dept of 

Environmental Sciences, Toledo OH 43616. 

A historic walleye group spawns each spring in Cattaraugus 

Creek, New York, a tributary in eastern Lake Erie, 

located in the Seneca Nation. The New York State Department 

of Environmental Conservation supplemented Cattaraugus 

Creek from 1995-2000 annually with 2.2 million 

walleye fry and 44,000 fingerlings from a hatchery (parents 

from the western Lake Erie Maumee River) because 

they believed the site to have suitable habitat but unpopulated. 

The artificial stocking posed a potential threat to 

the genetic structure of the native spawning run through 

potential hybridization. The hypotheses of this study were 

to test if the genetic composition and diversity of the native 

spawning group was affected by the stocked fry, and 

whether differences occurred among annual runs, between 

age cohorts and sexes. Nine nuclear DNA microsatellite


Vol. 112(1) 

loci and mitochondrial DNA control region sequences were 

analyzed for a total of 219 spawning walleye from eight 

years (1999, 01, 03, 05, 09-11), representing age cohorts 

born before stocking (1984, 86, 93, 94) vs. after stocking 

(1995-99) and 10 stocked fingerlings (1999). Analyses included 

heterozygosity (diversity) comparisons, and pairwise 

divergences. Multiple comparisons were corrected 

using sequential Bonferroni. Observed heterozygosity was 

0.71-0.77 and was similar to other Lake Erie walleye runs. 

Pairwise comparisons indicated no significant differences 

between annual walleye runs. No differences were found 

between the sexes or among age cohorts before vs. after 

stocking. Thus, a genetically consistent and divergent 

stock of walleye spawns in Cattaraugus Creek. 

10:30 TRIBUTARY IMPACTS ON THE WESTERN LAKE ERIE 

SHORELINE FISH COMMUNITY. Anne T. Doerr, anne.doerr@ 

utoledo.edu, Jason E. Ross, Jason.Ross2@rockets.utoledo. 

edu, Christine M. Mayer, christine.mayer@utoledo.edu. 

University of Toledo, Department of Environmental Sciences 

and Lake Erie Center, 6200 Bayshore Drive, Oregon OH 43616. 

The purpose of this study was to assess how tributaries 

affect the western Lake Erie shoreline (0-2m depth) fish 

community. 500 meters of shoreline were electrofished by 

boat during day and night (May-August 2011) at 17 sites 

along the southern shoreline of the western basin of Lake 

Erie. At each transect, turbidity (TU), dissolved oxygen 

(DO), and temperature were measured with a YSI water 

quality probe, Secchi depth was also measured as an index 

of clarity. Secchi depth was estimated through nonlinear 

regression with TU in a few instances when Secchi could 

not be obtained due to weather and during night sampling. 

The hypotheses of this study were 1) clarity would increase 

and DO and temperature would to decrease with distance 

from river mouth 2) fish biomass and diversity would be 

highest near tributary mouths 3) fish biomass and diversity 

would correlate positively with DO and negatively with 

clarity because low DO negatively affects many species 

and high clarity sites may be less productive and have 

lower food availability. Secchi was always lowest near 

tributary mouths (regressions p0.05). 

At two of three tributaries temperature changed with 

distance from river mouth (regressions p

Vol. 112(1) 

binding sites. Evolutionary Conserved Regions (ECRs) are 

usually conserved because of their biological significance in 

gene expression. ECR’s were identified through a program 

called Mulan, while conserved transcription factor binding 

sites (TFBSs) were identified through MultiTF. Six ECRs 

and 177 transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) were 

found on both human SRY and 7 different copies of rat 

Sry. The rat Sry loci contains 5 ECRs with 99 TFBSs. A 

comparison of the human SRY and rat Sry2 identified 12 

ECRs with 139 TFBSs in common. The relevance of these 

TFs is indicated by how frequent and common a TF is 

found within these conserved regions. The most frequent 

transcription factors to recognize the conserved sequences 

were CDXA, CAP, SRY, STAT, AREB6 (ZEB), HFH3, 

and HNF. Transcription factor binding sites in common 

as well as unique to each Sry loci could help explain the 

function and expression patterns of each copy. These 

results increase our knowledge of potential regulatory 

motifs in Sry promoters and are informative for better 

understanding how difference in promoter regions can be 

reflected in different patterns of expression of the genes. 

09:30 THE ORIGIN OF COYOTE POPULATIONS IN THE 

CUYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL RECREATION AREA. Brittney 

T. Riordan, btr3@zips.uakron.edu, Greg Smith gasmith@ 

uakron.edu, (R. Joel Duff, rjduff@uakron.edu), 124 Seifert Ct 

NW, Massillon OH 44646. 

Wolves and coyotes are known to have interbred and the 

timing of this interbreeding and location is thought to be 

important in explaining the current geographical distributions 

of these species. Prior to Europeans settlement, Ohio 

was well populated with wolves. More recently, coyotes 

Canis latrans) have migrated into the state and are now 

the dominant canine predator. To test the hypothesis that 

coyotes in northeast Ohio are related to populations of coyotes 

from the northeast US, we obtained blood samples 

from 33 assumed coyotes from the Cuyahoga Valley National 

Recreational Area (CVNRA) between Cleveland and 

Akron, Ohio. DNA was extracted from all individuals and 

a 369 bp portion of the mitochondrial control region was 

amplified. Twelve sequences were generated and aligned, 

using the software package MEGA5, with 250 coyote and 

wolf sequences from the Eastern US downloaded from 

GenBank (NCBI). Distance analysis was performed and 

a distance tree used to assess the similarities of these 

new sequences with those of prior studies. Of these, seven 

samples have a coyote specific haplotype that have been 

identified from WI, OH, NC and PA. One sample has a different 

coyote specific haplotype that is identical with a coyote 

from NC. Three samples have the “Great Lakes Wolf” 

haplotype found in the northeast US that represents descendents 

of a presumed past hybridization of wolves and 

coyotes. These results strongly suggest that present day 

coyotes in the CVNRA may have been introduced into the 

park from multiple source populations. 

09:45 EFFICACY OF THE BILLINGS METHOD IN PREDICTING 

ONSET OF MENSES IN COLLEGE WOMEN. Keira A. Corbett, 

k-corbett@onu.edu, [Catherine L. E. Young, c-young.1@onu. 

edu, Vicki Abrams Motz, v-motz@onu.edu] 124 West Lincoln 

Ave. Ada, OH 45810 

The Billings Method, a means of tracking a woman’s 

menstrual cycle, uses mucus characteristics and the 

sensation of the skin around the vagina to predict the onset 

of menstruation and a woman’s peak fertility. The focus of 

this ongoing study is to assess the efficacy of the Billings 

Method as a predictor of onset of menses in 25 college 

women 18-23 years of age, and furthermore compare its 

efficacy against the calendar method of predicting menses. 

The hypothesis is that there will be a difference between 

the Billings and the calendar prediction methods, and that 

Billings Method predictions will increase in accuracy in 

subsequent cycles. In the beginning of this study, recruited 

participants attended a presentation about the menstrual 

cycle, how the Billings Method works as a predictor, and 

agreed to requirements for the study. To collect data, 


subjects email the researcher twice per cycle for 3 cycles; 

once after they assess peak fertility to predict the date of 

onset of menstruation and again to confirm actual onset of 

menses. A paired t-test was used to compare the deviations 

between the Billings Method predicted and calendar 

predicted dates to the dates of actual menses onset. 

For cycle one, the calendar predictions were an average 

of 3.24 days off while the Billings Method predictions 

averaged 2.00 days off actual onset. This however was 

not statistically significant at a=.05, though there was 

a statistical difference in the second cycle with a paired 

t-test value of .01. The third cycle is in progress. 

10:00 CRUSTAL UPLIFT AND CENOzOIC EXTENSIONAL 

TECTONICS OF PELAGONIA IN NORTHERN GREECE. Katie 

C. Lehmann, lehmankc@muohio.edu, John J. Brockman, 

brockmj3@muohio.edu, (Yildirim Dilek) dileky@muohio.edu, 

Dept.of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami 

University, Oxford, OH 45056. 

This study investigates the crustal uplift and exhumation 

of Pelagonia, a NNW-trending ribbon continent with 

Gondwana affinity in west-central Greece. The Pelagonian 

microcontinent constitutes the westernmost segment of 

the Internal Hellenide mountain belt, and its crystalline 

basement consists mainly of granites, gneisses, and 

metavolcanic rocks that range in age from late Proterozoic 

to Permo-Carboniferous. The goal of this project is 

to determine the mode and nature of the punctuated 

Cenozoic exhumation and uplift history of Pelagonia. 

The hypothesis of this experiment is the Pelagonian 

microcontinent represents a metamorphic core complex, 

developed in a dextral transtensional stress regime in the 

Balkan Peninsula during the late Cenozoic. Structural 

measurements of shear zones, schistosity/foliation planes, 

fault plants, and mineral and stretching lineations were 

recorded along 6 ~NE-SW-directed traverses. Stereoplots 

were constructed from the data as well as a geodynamic 

model of the tectonic history of the region. Rock samples 

collected along these traverses will undergo geochemical 

analysis, providing greater precision of the timing and 

rates of uplift and exhumation. The structural analyses 

and geochronology derived from this study will be essential 

to the reconstruction of the tectonic history of Pelagonia. 

10:15 SYNTHESIS AND TESTING OF NOVEL ANTIBACTERIAL 

GLUCOSAMINE DERIVATIVES ON S. AUREUS. Joy L. Sizemore 1 , 

sizemorej@findlay.edu, Brianne N. Kuns 2 , kunsb@findlay.edu, 

Rahul Khupse 2 , khupse@findlay.edu, Matthew J. Hoostal1, 

hoostal@findlay.edu, 1 University of Findlay, College of 

Science, Findlay OH 45840 and 2 University of Findlay, College 

of Pharmacy, Findlay OH 45840. 

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and few new antibiotics 

are increasingly prevalent problems in both human 

and veterinary medicine. For example, the prevalence 

of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) 

among S. aureus isolates cultured from patients in 

intensive care units within United States hospitals 

increased from 35.9% to 64.4% between 1992 and 2003. 

In addition, among the fifteen largest pharmaceutical 

companies, only 1.6% of drugs in development in 2004 were 

antibiotics. To address the shortage of novel antibacterials, 

this project involves the characterization and testing 

of three glucosamine derivatives as novel antibacterial 

compounds synthesized by linking an experimental moiety 

to glucosamine via a nucleophilic substitution reaction. As 

glucosamine is essential in the generation of peptidoglycan, 

structural analogs of glucosamine may initiate a loss 

of bacterial osmoregulation, a key function of the 

bacterial cell wall. Mass and nuclear magnetic resonance 

spectroscopy were utilized to characterize the synthesized 

glucosamine derivatives. Three synthesized glucosamine 

derivatives have decreased the growth of laboratory 

cultures of drug-sensitive S. aureus by approximately 

20%. To substantiate the potential mechanism of action, 

S. aureus was inoculated with sodium chloride (0.6M, 

0.9M, and 1.1M) and a glucosamine derivative, as well as


Vol. 112(1) 

treatment controls inoculated only with sodium chloride 

(0.6M, 0.9M, and 1.1M). Bacteria treated with 1 mg/mL 

glucosamine derivatives plus sodium chloride grew about 

20% less than treatment controls. During growth curve 

assays, each glucosamine derivative inhibited S. aureus 

by approximately 25% compared to unamended controls 

(P> 0.05). Specifically, S. aureus were inhibited during 

exponential (log) growth, suggesting the glucosamine 

derivatives inhibit cell wall synthesis. 

10:30 AN ATTEMPT TO REFINE THE DATE OF THE SERPENT 

MOUND IMPACT EVENT Emily Williams (ewillia5@ashland. 

edu) Box 1325, 401 College Ave, Ashland, Ohio 44805, Nigel 

Brush (nbrush@ashland.edu) Ashland University, and Jeff 

Dilyard (dilyard@embarqmail.com). 

The Serpent Mound Impact Structure is located at the 

junction of Adams, Highland, and Pike Counties in 

southern Ohio. The documentation of classic impact 

indicators (including shocked quartz, coesite, shatter cones, 

and iridium) from Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian 

period rocks within this structure clearly established 

that it was created by a bolide impact. The date of the 

impact event, however, is still being debated and various 

time-ranges have been previously suggested: post-Middle 

Silurian to pre-Late Devonian, after the Late Devonian- 

Early Mississippian, Early Mississippian-Late Permian, or 

Late Pennsylvanian-Late Permian. It is hypothesized that 

the Serpent Mound Structure dates to the Late Devonian 

Period because a dozen other impact craters around the 

world date to this time period. The recent discovery 

of shatter cones in either Upper Devonian or Lower 

Mississippian-age black shale within the crater provides 

the opportunity to test this hypothesis. Conodonts in this 

black shale will be microscopically analyzed in an attempt 

to biostratigraphically determine the age of this shale. 

However, even if this shale proves to be Late Devonian, 

there may be younger strata within the crater that also 

contain evidence of impact. Since the Berea Sandstone lies 

above the black shale, six thin sections of this sandstone 

will be prepared and microscopically analyzed for evidence 

of shocked quartz. If the Berea Sandstone contains no 

evidence of shock metamorphism – and the conodonts 

date the shale to Late Devonian – this will support the 

hypothesis that the impact occurred in the Late Devonian. 

However, if the Berea Sandstone contains shocked quartz, 

then the impact event is likely post-Devonian. 

10:45 AN ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY THE GENUS AND 

STRATIGRAPHIC POSITION OF PETRIFIED WOOD SPECIMENS 

FROM HOLMES AND COSHOCTON COUNTIES, OHIO. Mitchell 

Ramsey (mramsey1@ashland.edu) Box 1182, 401 College 

Ave, Ashland, Ohio 44805, and Nigel Brush (nbrush@ashland. 

edu) Ashland University. 

The Petrified Forest in Arizona dates to the Triassic Period 

(225 ma.) and is one of the most famous fossilized wood 

sites in the United States. Petrified wood, however, has 

also been collected in many of the other 50 states. In 

Ohio, petrified wood is most commonly recovered from 

the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau in the 

southeastern part of the state – from Muskingum County 

to Lawrence County. Most of these samples have been 

dated to the Pennsylvanian Period (318-299 ma.) and occur 

within the Conemaugh Group. Many of these specimens 

represent the seed-fern genus Psaronius. Less commonly, 

petrified wood has also been found in the glaciated and 

unglaciated Allegheny Plateau in northeastern Ohio. 

Four petrified wood sites were identified in Holmes County 

and four sites in Coshocton County. Although these 

petrified wood samples from northeastern Ohio have all 

been located in the upper part of the Pennsylvanian-age 

Pottsville Group, it is hypothesized that the genus of these 

specimens will also be Psaronius – as in southeastern Ohio. 

In order to test this hypothesis, 20 samples of petrified 

wood from these eight sites in Holmes and Coshocton 

County will be cut and polished so that the cell structure 

of each specimen can be microscopically analyzed and the 

genus determined. Continued fieldwork at these sites will 

also attempt to use well-known sandstone and limestone 

units in the upper Pottsville to bracket the unit(s) 

containing the petrified wood. This research should result 

in a clearer understanding of the types of trees growing in 

northeastern Ohio during the Early Pennsylvanian Period, 

as well as their stratigraphic position. 



T.B.A. – Presiding 

09:00 EVALUATION OF BIOSAND FILTER MODIFIED WITH 

BRASS DISINFECTION LAYER FOR HOUSEHOLD TREATMENT 

OF DRINKING WATER. Jennifer Huang, jjh123@case.edu, 

Maeve Goede, mkg39@case.edu, Henry Spradley hjs43@case. 

edu, Banu Sizirici Yildiz, bsy3@case.edu, Case Western Reserve 

University, Civil Engineering Department, Bingham Building 

#216, 2104 Adelbert Road, Cleveland OH 44106-7201. 

Biosand filtration (BSF) is currently a sufficient and 

low-cost method used in underdeveloped countries for 

pathogen and particle removal in drinking water. The 

aim of this project is to evaluate the pathogen reduction 

potential of a modified BSF (MBSF) with a disinfectant 

layer of granulated brass to determine if brass enables 

additional purification and foreign particle reduction. 

There are several reasons for choosing granulated brass 

for the disinfectant layer. Metallic oxides are good sorbents 

of microorganisms and turbidity. Historically, copper has 

been used for the treatment of diseases because of its 

ability to remediate algicide and parasites. In addition, 

brass is an alloy of copper and zinc that is easily accessible 

around the globe. Based on previous medical applications 

of brass, the MBSF should produce better results in 

water quality than the conventional BSF design. In the 

experiment, the unmodified BSF was filled with gravel, 

pea gravel, coarse sand, and fine sand, while the MBSF 

was constructed with an additional granulated brass 

layer in the fine sand media. The filters were run twice 

a day with 4 liters of water collected from Doan Brook in 

Cleveland, Ohio. Physical and biological tests including 

flow rate, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, total and fecal 

coliform tests were conducted from 12 August 2011 to 25 

October 2011. The conventional BSF (control) achieved a 

90.47% reduction in total coliform, 96.59% reduction in 

fecal coliform and 88.5% reduction in turbidity, while the 

MBSF performed an 89.32% reduction in total coliform, 

68.85% reduction in fecal coliform, and 88.3% reduction in 

turbidity. Based on the test results, the MBSF made no 

contributions to the improvement of the quality of water. 

The poor performance of brass, however, may be a result 

of not integrating the disinfection layer into a depth that 

would optimize the performance of brass. Therefore, more 

research is necessary to develop the study on MBSF with 

brass. 

09:15 CARRYOVER EFFECTS OF LARVAL DIGESTIVE PLASTICITY 

POST-METAMORPHOSIS IN RED-EYED TREEFROGS Chelsea R. 

Jenney 1 , Sarah S. Bouchard 1 (sbouchard@otterbein.edu) and 

Karen M. Warkentin 2 (kwarken@bu.edu) 1512 Electra Street, 

Columbus, OH 43240. 

Larval environment has a profound effect on postmetamorphic 

nutrition in red-eyed treefrogs. Small 

froglets emerging from high density larval environments 

feed sooner and grow at a faster rate than large froglets 

from low density environments. Additionally, froglet 

insect intake does not scale with body size despite large 

differences in froglet mass. These patterns could be 

attributed to effects of larval plasticity that carry over postmetamorphosis. 

It was hypothesized that larvae from high 

densities would increase gut length (increasing digestive 

efficiency) and reduce liver size (fat storage) in response to 

lower per capita food resources. We reared larvae at three 

densities (5, 25 and 45 individuals per 400 L tank), and 

euthanized 10 size-matched larvae and 10 froglets from 

each density. Guts, livers, and fat bodies of all individuals

Vol. 112(1) 

were dissected and weighed. Guts were uncoiled and 

photographed, and gut length and area were assessed using 

ImageJ software. As predicted, guts of high- and mediumdensity 

larvae were 23% longer than that of low-density 

larvae, and livers and fat bodies were significantly smaller. 

Low-density froglets were three times heavier than highdensity 

froglets (0.93 vs. 0.39 g). Despite this extreme size 

difference, gut length did not vary with density, although 

high- and medium-density guts were lighter and thinner 

than low-density guts. High- and medium-density froglets 

also had proportionately smaller livers and fat bodies 

than low-density froglets. These results confirm carryover 

effects of larval plasticity post-metamorphosis. 

09:30 METABOLIC RATES IN POSTMETAMORPHIC RED- 

EYED TREEFROGS. Lindsay J. Wargelin, lindsay.wargelin@ 

otterbein.edu, Sarah S. Bouchard, sbouchard@otterbein.edu, 

Karen M. Warkentin, kwarken@bu.edu; 50 W. Lincoln Street, 

Westerville OH 43081. 

Resource availability has a strong effect on growth and 

development of red-eyed treefrogs. High larval densities 

reduce larval growth rates, delay metamorphosis, and 

decrease froglet size. Additionally, small froglets from 

high larval densities consume insects at a similar rate 

to large froglets from low larval densities. The lack of a 

scaling relationship between intake and body size suggests 

that larval environment could also impact metabolism and 

nutrition post-metamorphosis. It was hypothesized that 

larval density would influence the scaling relationship 

between body size and metabolic rate. Larvae were reared 

in mesocosms at low, medium, and high densities with a 

constant food level, such that per capita food resources 

varied with density. Larval growth rates were measured 

by photographing larvae at two time points and assessing 

larval length with ImageJ software. Once metamorphosis 

was complete, metabolic rates were determined by 

measuring oxygen consumption with a PreSens Microx 

TX2 oxygen sensor. Larvae from the low-density habitats 

grew four times faster and began emerging two weeks 

sooner than larvae from the high density habitat. Froglets 

from low-density environments were three times heavier 

than those from high-density environments. Oxygen 

consumption was measured in individuals ranging in size 

from 0.33 – 0.99 g; metabolic rate scaled with body mass 

with an allometric slope of 0.97. Therefore, intake and 

metabolic rate vary differently with body size, suggesting 

factors other than metabolism influence intake. 

09:45 SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIzATION OF EIGHT-ARMED 

CALIXARENE-CORE POLYLACTIDE STAR POLYMERS. Anna C. 

Falls, afalls@ashland.edu, Perry S. Corbin, pcorbin@ashland. 

edu, Ashland University, Department of Chemistry/Geology/ 

Physics, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805. 

Polylactide (PLA) and related polyesters have been 

employed in biomedical applications and are becoming more 

prominently used in commercial packaging materials. One 

potential method of expanding the physical properties of 

this class of renewable, biodegradable plastics is to prepare 

PLAs with varied molecular architectures. To address this 

issue, eight-armed calixarene-core PLA star polymers were 

synthesized. These polymers have a central macrocyclic 

core with eight projecting chains. The synthesis was 

accomplished by first preparing a calixarene initiator with 

eight alcohol functional groups. Polymers with varying 

numbers of repeat units per arm were then synthesized in 

solution by Sn(II)-catalyzed ring-opening polymerizations 

of DL- and L-lactide using the aforementioned macrocyclic 

initiator. The star-shaped PLAs were characterized by 

gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) and proton nuclear 

magnetic resonance ( 1 H NMR) spectroscopy and were 

found to have number average molecular weights (ranging 

from ~10-30 kDa) that were close to those targeted based 

upon the monomer to initiator ratios. The polydispersity 

indices of the polymers were also low (< 1.2). Moreover, 

end-group analysis by 1 H NMR spectroscopy supported 

star polymer production. The thermal properties of the 


PLAs were, in turn, investigated by differential scanning 

calorimetry (DSC). These DSC studies have revealed 

that the crystallization rates of lower molecular weight 

eight-armed calixarene-core PLAs are slower than their 

linear counterparts and that the percent crystallinity 

can be adjusted by varying annealing time. This will 

potentially affect and allow for controlled degradation 

of the synthesized star PLAs because the degradation 

rate of linear PLAs typically increases as crystallinity 

increases. Star PLAs with controllable degradation rates 

are important for their basic value and their potential use 

in biomedical applications, including drug-delivery. 

10:00 SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIzATION OF SIX-ARMED 

CALIXARENE-CORE POLYLACTIDE STAR POLYMERS. Mei Li, 

mli1@ashland.edu, Perry S. Corbin, pcorbin@ashland.edu, 

Ashland University, Department of Chemistry/Geology/ 


Calixarenes and related macrocycles have been exploited 

as hosts in supramolecular chemistry, as catalysts, and 

as initiators for polymerizing isobutylene, acrylates, and 

styrene. Because the synthesis of calixarenes is wellestablished 

and a variety of functional groups can be linked 

to the macrocycles, calixarenes are viewed as excellent 

platforms for producing varied polylactide (PLA) star 

polymers. To diversify the molecular architecture of PLA 

(and potentially impact its material properties), six-armed 

calixarene-core PLA star polymers have been synthesized. 

The star PLAs were synthesized by first preparing an 

appropriate hexa-functional calixarene initiator in two 

steps. The macrocyclic initiator was dissolved in m-xylene 

and reacted with varying quantities of DL and L-lactide 

in Sn(II)-catalyzed ring-opening polymerizations. The 

reactions yielded polymers with low polydispersity indices 

(≤1.2) and with number average molecular weights 

close to those targeted based upon monomer loading, as 

determined by gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) and 

nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. 1 H NMR 

spectroscopic analysis of the star polymers also suggests 

that the macrocyclic, calixarene core of the polymers exists 

in multiple conformations, as evidenced by the presence 

of more than one set signals for the core. Differential 

scanning calorimetry (DSC) was, subsequently, used to 

analyze the thermal properties of the PLAs. In contrast 

to linear PLAs, DSC studies indicated that the percent 

crystallinity of the star PLAs could be steadily varied from 

0 to ~30% by increasing annealing time. The biodegradable/ 

biocompatible star PLAs reported have the potential to be 

used in a variety of applications (e.g., drug-delivery). 

10:15 THE CRAWFORD SITE: A NEWLY EXCAVATED 

WELLSBURG PHASE SITE NEAR THE WALHONDING RIVER IN 

COSHOCTON COUNTY, OHIO Nigel Brush (nbrush@ashland. 

edu) Department of Chemistry, Geology & Physics, Ashland 

University, Ashland, OH 44805, Jarrod Burks (jarrodburks@ 

ovacltd.com) Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc., Jim Morton 

(james.f.morton@gmail.com), and Jeff Dilyard (dilyard@ 

embarqmail.com) 

The Crawford Site is located on a fluvial terrace near 

the Walhonding River in central Coshocton County, 

Ohio. This four-acre site was identified during an ongoing 

program of survey and excavation of Late Prehistoric sites 

in the Walhonding Valley by members of the Ashland/ 

Wooster/Columbus Archaeological Consortium in order to 

study changes in settlement and subsistence systems in 

the Walhonding Valley between the Medieval Warm Period 

(A.D. 800-1300) and the Little Ice Age (A.D. 1300-1850). In 

August, 2011, a magnetometer survey of the Crawford Site 

identified 46 magnetic anomalies. During the fall of 2011, 

ten of these anomalies were excavated and subsequently 

identified as storage/refuse pits. These features contained 

a variety of cultural materials including: 45 flint tools, 

5 stone tools and 354 pottery shards. Chronological 

diagnostic artifacts date the site to the Wellsburg Phase 

(A.D. 1500-1700) and include: Fort Ancient, Madison, 

Nodena and Fresno points; bifacial endscrapers; and


Vol. 112(1) 

Wellsburg pottery. This artifact assemblage, however, 

is relatively impoverished compared to the Cullison Site 

- another Wellsburg Phase site along the Walhonding 

River about five miles upstream and northwest of the 

Crawford Site. Ten storage/refuse pits were excavated at 

the four and one-half acre Cullison Site by members of the 

Consortium in 1995. These storage/refuse pits contained 

105 flint tools, 26 stone tools and 1,454 pottery shards. 

The disparities between these two sites suggest that the 

Crawford Site may have served as a transitory agricultural 

site where crops were grown and stored, but other cultural 

activities were rather limited. 

10:30 WHAT FISH EYE LENSES CAN TELL US ABOUT SMALL 

HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN FUNCTION AND EVOLUTION. 

Mason Posner (mposner@ashland.edu). Ashland University, 

Department of Biology/Toxicology, 401 College Avenue, 

Ashland, OH 44805. 

Vertebrate alpha crystallins are small heat shock 

proteins (sHSPs) that help maintain lens homeostasis 

and transparency. They are also expressed throughout 

the body and play a role in the prevention and etiology 

of multiple extraocular diseases. Alpha crystallins 

inhibit harmful protein aggregation by interacting with 

denaturing proteins through the exposure of hydrophobic 

residues. Numerous studies with mammalian species 

have attempted to identify amino acid variations that 

affect this protective chaperone-like activity, which is 

known to be sensitive to changes in temperature. Here 

we used recombinant protein of the lenticular sHSP alpha 

A-crystallin from six teleost fish species (Cyprinodon 

variegatus, Danio rerio, Dissostichus mawsoni, Notothenia 

angustata, Oncorhynchus kisutch, Pimephales notatus) 

environmentally adapted to temperatures ranging from 

-2°C to 40°C to identify correlations between physiological 

temperature, protein stability and chaperone-like activity. 

Computer analyses of the six protein sequences identified 

three specific amino acid substitutions differing in 

hydrophobicity that were predicted to increase chaperonelike 

activity. Site directed mutagenesis of these three 

residues in the zebrafish (V62T, C143S, T147V) confirmed 

that each impacts either protein stability or chaperone-like 

activity or both, with the V62T substitution having the 

greatest impact. Our results indicate a role for changing 

hydrophobicity in the thermal adaptation of aA-crystallin 

and suggest ways to produce sHsp variants with altered 

chaperone-like activity. These data also demonstrate 

that a comparative approach can provide new information 

about sHsp function and evolution. 

Multi-Disciplinary Poster Session 

09-:00 – 11:00 am 

Schar 2 nd Floor 


Poster Board No. 001 INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE BEHAVIOR 

OF THE CANIS LUPUS BAILEYI PACK AT THE CLEVELAND 

METROPARKS zOO. Melissa A. Marmaduke, marmadukem@ 

findlay.edu, (Jessica Wooten, wooten@findlay.edu) The 

University of Findlay Department of Natural Sciences, 1000 

N. Main Street, Findlay OH 45840. 

Hierarchical structure of pack animals has long been of 

interest, and wolf (Canis lupus) packs are frequently used 

as examples to describe behavioral relationships among 

members of social groups. Generally, pack animals exhibit 

a hierarchy with a dominant male and female (alpha 

individuals); these are the pack leaders. The opposite 

end of the hierarchy is the omega individual, and every 

other individual is a subordinate. The omega can be 

either male or female and is the scapegoat, serving as an 

outlet for aggression for the other wolves, which helps 

to maintain balance within the pack. Mexican wolves 

are currently protected by the Endangered Species Act 

because of declining populations throughout their native 

geographic range. The objectives of this study are to test 

whether captive Mexican wolves exhibit hierarchical 

behavior patterns. The hypothesis is that this wolf pack 

will exhibit hierarchical behaviors and will further 

corroborate the existing literature on the social behavior 

of wolves in captivity. Data will be collected using scan- 

and all-occurrence sampling every two minutes on the wolf 

pack during 10 separate, 30-minute observations spaced 

in the morning, midday, and afternoon. Observations will 

occur weekly over five weeks. Due to difficulties identifying 

individuals, individual wolves will not be identified; 

rather, the number of wolves engaging in behaviors will be 

recorded. These methods are frequently used to investigate 

pack animal behavior. During each scan the number 

of wolves engaged in one of seven behavior categories 

(inactive, feed, locomotion, abnormal, social, active other, 

and not visible) will be recorded. 

Poster Board No. 002 AGGRESSION IN AFRICAN CICHLIDS. 

Kamela D. Stamey, kstamey@falcon.bgsu.edu, Moira van 

Staaden, Robert Huber Bowling Green State University, Dept 

of Biology, Bowling Green OH, 43403. 

The 2000+ fish species of the East African Great Lakes 

exhibit remarkable morphological and ecological 

differences. However, the mechanisms that led to this 

diversity are not well understood. Behaviors involved 

in intersexual selection have been intensely studied, 

but others, such as intrasexual fighting strategies, may 

also be important in driving speciation. In this study, 

fighting strategies in the Malawi cichlid Melanochromis 

auratus were explored utilizing mirror-image stimulation 

techniques. To determine whether opponent size 

influences fighting strategies, individual fish were 

simultaneously exposed to three mirrors: concave, 

convex, and flat, representing larger, smaller, and samesized 

opponents, respectively. An increase in perceived 

opponent size was predicted to be positively correlated 

with mirror interaction time. Multiple linear regression 

analysis showed significant preferences (measured as time 

spent) for the larger image (concave mirror) (P< 0.001, 

R 2 =0.1028) in both mature males (N=5) and females (N=5). 

Detailed descriptive analysis of six different behaviors that 

commonly occur within the context of these competitive 

interactions in three age and sex classes are included. 

Together, these findings have implications with respect to 

an individual’s inherent aggressiveness, resource value, 

and risk assessment, all of which may influence gene flow 

and speciation. 

Poster Board No. 003 DIFFERENTIAL GROWTH RATES 

OF JUVENILE WHITE BASS (Morone chrysops) UTILIzING 

SPATIALLY-DISTINCT NURSERY HABITATS IN LAKE ERIE. 

Andrew G. Steyer, asteyer@falcon.bgsu.edu, Jeremiah J. 

Davis, davisjj.bgsu.edu, Jeffrey G. Miner, jminer@bgsu. 

edu, John R. Farver, jfarver@bgsu.edu. Bowling Green State 

University, Dept of Biology, Bowling Green OH, 43404-0208 

To allow better management of sport fish stocks and 

protect critical nursery habitats, it is useful to have an 

understanding of their productivity. This study attempts 

to evaluate nursery habitat quality in Lake Erie on a fine 

scale and provide reasons for observed differences. It is 

hypothesized that daily growth productivity of juvenile 

white bass utilizing Sandusky Bay as a nursery habitat 

will exceed that of white bass utilizing Maumee Bay. 

Available prey resources indicate a potential reason for 

differences in daily growth. Daily growth productivity is 

quantified by measuring differences in daily growth rates 

of white bass and available prey resources in spatially 

distinct nursery habitats of the Western Basin of Lake 

Erie. YOY white bass were collected from each bay and 

growth rates were quantified by comparing daily growth 

increments observed in otoliths, which provided direct 

measures of growth. Otolith analysis indicated that growth 

was 25% greater in Sandusky Bay than conspecifics of the 

same age utilizing Maumee Bay (t-test, p

Vol. 112(1) 

Sandusky Bay (51.9mg/L) versus Maumee Bay (8.8 mg/L) 

through the mean of three replicates (t-test, p 50% of the total abundance 

at each location. The second most common inhabitants 

were introduced Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea), which 

were found in four of the nine tip-up pools sampled. In 

those four pools, Asian clams ranged from 1% - 25% 

of macroinvertebrate abundance. Additional analyses 

will investigate the influence of physical and chemical 


characteristics on macroinvertebrate community structure 

including diversity, taxa richness, and dominance. 

Poster Board No. 006 DIETARY VARIATION OF THE GOLDEN 

REDHORSE (MOXOSTOMA ERYTHRURUM RAFINESQUE) IN 

TWO STREAMS OF VARYING WATER QUALITY. Chad M. Carroll, 

c-carroll@onu.edu, Joshua A. Ryan, j-ryan.5@onu.edu, 

Terry D. Keiser, t-keiser@onu.edu (advisor), Department of 

Biological and Allied Health Sciences, Ada, OH 45810 

Golden Redhorses (Moxostoma erythrurum Rafinesque) 

are found throughout lotic systems in the eastern United 

States and are a member of the Catostomidae family. These 

fish are found in various types of water flow and benthic 

conditions, but prefer small silts and sands which are 

associated with slower moving water. They are generalistic 

feeders preferring invertebrates; however algae and 

detritus are also consumed during feeding. The two 

primary objectives of this investigation were to determine 

1) if the diets of golden redhorses differ in streams that are 

of varying water quality and 2) if the recovered gut contents 

can be used to determine water quality of the streams by 

using the biotic indices of the invertebrates identified in 

the guts of each fish. Two stream sites were selected: the 

Kokosing River (Knox County, OH) of relative good water 

quality and White Eyes Creek (Coshocton County, OH) of 

poor water quality from agricultural and rail road impacts 

that have altered the riparian zone and sped up erosion 

leading to excessive sedimentation. At each of the two 

sites a 150-m stream segment was electroshocked using 

the “rollerbeast” and seining to collect 11 golden redhorses 

from White Eyes Creek and 8 from the Kokosing River. 

Measurements of length and weight were taken and 

then the specimens were stored in 15% formalin. The 

gut contents were extracted by dissecting the fish and 

were also stored in 15% formalin. Comparisons between 

the gut contents of the two populations will be examined 

using exploratory analyses (e.g. Kruskal Wallace, t-test) to 

determine water quality and diet variations of the golden 

redhorses in various streams. 

Poster Board No. 007 THE EFFECTS OF CANOPY COVER AND 

TREE LEAF LITTER SPECIES ON INVERTEBRATE DIVERSITY 

IN VERNAL POOLS. Michael A. Plenzler, maplenz@bgsu. 

edu, Helen J. Michaels, hmichae@bgsu.edu, Department of 

Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling 

Green OH 43403. 

Vernal pools provide critical habitats for amphibians, 

invertebrates, and plants because seasonal drying 

prevents the establishment of predatory fish. Hundreds 

of invertebrate species use vernal pools and are important 

predators, prey, and nutrient cyclers. Invertebrate 

diversity can be affected by canopy cover, which limits 

primary productivity, and leaf litter that subsidizes 

wetland nutrients. We tested how leaf litter species and 

canopy cover affect invertebrate diversity in mesocosm 

wetlands. The mesocosms contained known invertebrate 

communities and were assigned to a high or low light (30% 

& 73% canopy) treatment with silver maple, pin oak, or 

a mixture of the leaf species. These litters were chosen 

because they were the most common from a previous study 

of 15 NW Ohio vernal pools. Water quality, algal and 

plankton communities, invertebrate and family abundance, 

and Shannon diversity were measured monthly from June 

to August 2011. Leaf litter impacted light availability, as 

seasonal average light measurements in the maple, oak/ 

maple, and oak treatments were 193μE/m 2 /sec, 337μE/m 2 / 

sec, and 702μE/m 2 /sec, respectively (rmANOVA, F 5,12 =45.5, 

p


Vol. 112(1) 

dissolved organic carbon from litter further restricts light 

availability for primary producers in the water. 

Poster Board No. 008TETRACYCLINE RESISTANCE EXPRESSION 

IN COLIFORMS. Lindsay Dahl, dahll@findlay.edu., (Bethany 

Henderson-Dean). The University of Findlay, 1000 N. Main St., 

Findlay OH 45840. 

Tetracycline resistance in bacterial coliforms has been a 

prevalent problem in agricultural settings. To date there 

are over 39 tet genes and three main modes of resistance 

known. A single bacterium may have more than one tet 

gene conveying resistance. The hypothesis of this study 

is that transcriptional expression of the tetracycline 

genes will increase with an increasing concentration of 

tetracycline. Additionally, environmental tetracycline 

resistance isolates will be screened through RT-PCR 

analysis to determine if they contain multiple tet genes 

and how expression patterns vary based on tetracycline 

concentrations from their natural environments in the 

Blanchard River. 

Poster Board No. 009 THE IMPACT OF SEPTIC SYSTEMS ON 

COLIFORM DIVERSITY IN RIVER SEDIMENT. Catherine D. 

Herman, hermanc@findlay.edu., Kelly E. Fortney,( Bethany 

Henderson-Dean, Matthew Hoostal), The University of 

Findlay, 1000 N. Main St. Findlay, OH 45840. 

Surface sediment samples from sites in the Blanchard 

River were collected between October and November of 

2011. Total bacterial DNA will be isolated from surface 

sediments, and coliform bacteria will be identified through 

PCR amplification of 16S ribosomal DNA. These amplified 

products will be sent to the University of Chicago’s DNA 

sequencing facility. DNA sequences will be assessed 

utilizing the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP) Sequence 

Classifier, which classifies 16S ribosomal DNA sequences 

within general taxonomic ranks. This project will address 

the amount and types of coliform bacteria associated 

with improperly maintained septic systems compared to 

pristine water sources to determine if septic systems are 

altering microbial communities. 

Poster Board No. 010 CONDITIONED DISCRIMINATION OF 

MAGNETIC INCLINATION CUES BY HOMING PIGEONS IN A 

NOVEL EXPERIMENTAL PARADIGM. Merissa Acerbi, macerbi@ 

falcon.bgsu.edu, Lindsey Cunningham, cunninl@falcon. 

bgsu.edu, Verner P. Bingman, vbingma@bgsu.edu, Cordula 

V. Mora, cmora@bgsu.edu, Bowling Green State University, 

Dept of Psychology, Bowling Green OH 43403-0001. 

Homing pigeons, like migratory birds, possess an 

innate magnetic compass to determine direction during 

navigation. Unlike the type of magnetic compass used by 

humans, it is an inclination compass that measures the 

angle between the magnetic field vector and the Earth’s 

surface. The objective of this study was to develop a novel 

conditioning paradigm that required pigeons to solve 

a spatial task based on magnetic inclination cues and 

to investigate the sensory mechanisms underlying the 

magnetic compass in this species. Pigeons, walking inside a 

circular arena whilst attached to a horizontal tracker arm, 

were required to choose between four feeders associated 

with magnetic inclination values of either 0 or 90 degrees 

as generated by a large 3-axis magnetic coil system. The 

mean discrimination performance of the pigeons tested 

(n=4) resided above chance level (50%) for 26 consecutive 

sessions, but fell in control sessions to around 50% during 

control sessions when the magnetic coils were turned 

off. Therefore, homing pigeons are able to discriminate 

inclination cues in this experimental paradigm. Ongoing 

research is currently testing whether pigeons have a lightmediated 

and/or iron-based magnetoreceptor and whether 

there is an equivalent area to the Cluster N in this species’ 

forebrain as it has been found in migratory birds. 

Poster Board No. 011 ANALYSIS OF CROSS SEX FRIENDSHIPS 

Arlie A. Ray Jr. ; 2856 Shrine Rd., Springfield, OH 45502 - Clark 

State Community College. Morgan Howell, ; Cody Curtis, 

codyn.curtis@gmail.com; Kristin Howell, ; Ryan Mundy, ; (Dee 

Malcuit malcuitd@clarkstate.edu) 

Cross sex friendships are common in today’s society 

as men and women interact in professional and social 

environments. The intent of this research is to explore 

attitudes and beliefs toward Cross Sex Friendships (CSF). 

Collectively, Introduction to Sociology student authors 

created a survey incorporating qualitative and quantitative 

components. The hypothesis stated males and females, 

single, between ages 18-25 are supportive of cross sex 

friendships. Academic basis of the hypothesis evolved from 

student deliberations on the research topic, examination 

of relevant literature through written assignments, 

classroom dialogue assessing comparative perspectives 

of diverse generations, and personal experiences. 

Participants surveyed (N=100) were selected from Clark 

State Community College campus and surrounding areas. 

Participants defined CSF, stating their opinions in reference 

to development and sustainability of such relationships. 

Variables included: gender (men, N=50; women, N=50), 

age (N=25 for each age group as follows: 18-25, 26-35, 36- 

45, 46 +), and relationship status (married, N=31; single, 

N=58; other, N=11). Student researchers, Arlie Ray Jr., 

Morgan Howell, Kristin Howell, Ryan Mundy and Cody 

Curtis analyzed the quantitative survey data (6 questions 

– Excel) to discover the results support the hypothesis by a 

narrow margin, significance has not been determined: (1- 

10 scale) males ranked 1% higher than females; 18-25 year 

olds 1% higher than 26-45 and 2% higher than 46+; single 

participants ranked 4% higher then married in support of 

CSF. The authors recommend broadening the participant 

group and geographical boundaries, adding the following 

variables: sexual orientation and religion, thus gaining a 

clearer understanding of Cross Sex Friendships 

Poster Board No. 012 THE EFFECT OF THE ANTIOXIDANT 

VIAMIN E ON LIPID PEROXIDATION IN DLPC MODEL 

MEMBRANE SYSTEM. Brittany A. Balser (BrittanyBalser@ 

walsh.edu, 1154 Waterbury Dr., Medina, Ohio 44256) and 

(Nisreen A. Nusair) (nnusair@walsh.edu). 

Vitamin E is a lipid-soluble antioxidant. It performs this 

antioxidant function in the cell membrane and protects 

phospholipids from lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation 

in membranes plays a central role in many pathologic 

processes, including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Lipid 

peroxidation is of great importance because it modifies 

the structural and dynamic properties of the membranes, 

which in turn, influences the membrane’s function. 

In this study, the model membrane system consists of 

1,2-dilinoleoyl-3-sn-glycerophosphatidylcholine (DLPC) 

phospholipid bilayers. The DLPC phospholipid bilayer 

samples are subjected to autooxidation. Then, the degree of 

lipid peroxidation in DLPC membrane system is examined 

using UV-VIS Spectroscopy. The results show that the 

absorbance increases as the degree of lipid peroxidation 

increases in the DLPC membrane system. One remarkable 

feature of all biological membranes is their dynamic 

properties or flexibility (fluidity). This study investigates 

the dynamic properties of the peroxidized DLPC 

membrane system and how vitamin E affects the degree 

of lipid peroxidation utilizing Fluorescence Polarization 

(FP) Spectroscopy. Therefore, different concentrations 

of vitamin E (0 mol%, 2.5 mol%, 5 mol%, and 10 mol%) 

are incorporated into the DLPC phospholipid bilayers. It 

is proposed that vitamin E increases the fluidity of the 

system by decreasing the degree of lipid peroxidation. It is 

observed that as the degree of lipid peroxidation decreases 

in the DLPC membrane system, the FP value decreases. 

A decrease in the FP value indicates an increase in the 

fluidity of the DLPC membrane system. 

Poster Board No. 013 THE EFFECTS OF CHOLESTEROL AND 

BUPIVACAINE ON THE DEGREE OF LIPID PEROXIDATION 

IN DLPC MODEL MEMBRANE SYSTEM. Stewart C. Gruey,

Vol. 112(1) 

(StewartGruey@walsh.edu . P.O. Box 410 . Walsh University 

. 2020 E. Maple St. . N. Canton, Ohio 44720) and (Nisreen A. 

Nusair) . (nnusair@walsh.edu). 

Membranes, in the form of phospholipid bilayers, are vital 

part of all forms of life. Lipid peroxidation in membranes 

plays a central role in many pathologic processes, including 

cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, and diabetes. 

Lipid peroxidation is of great importance because it modifies 

the structural and dynamic properties of the membranes, 

which in turn, influences the membrane’s functions. One 

remarkable feature of all biological membranes is their 

dynamic properties or flexibility (fluidity). This study 

examines the dynamic properties of model membrane 

system, as well as, peroxidized model membrane system 

utilizing Fluorescence Polarization (FP) Spectroscopy. The 

model membrane system consists of 1,2-dilinoleoyl-3-snglycerophosphatidylcholine 

(DLPC) phospholipid bilayers. 

The research work discusses the effects of lipid peroxidation 

on the dynamic properties of cell membrane. It is observed 

that lipid peroxidation increases the fluorescence 

polarization value. Therefore, it decreases the fluidity of 

the DLPC membrane system. Different concentrations of 

cholesterol are incorporated into the DLPC phospholipid 

bilayers to examine how cholesterol influences the lipid 

peroxidation process. The attained results suggest that the 

degree of lipid peroxidation decreases approximately 10% 

as the cholesterol concentration increases from 0 mol%, 10 

mol%, 20 mol%, to 30 mol%, respectively. The interaction 

of the local anesthetic, Bupivacaine, with the DLPC 

phospholipid bilayers is also investigated. Bupivacaine 

absorbs into the DLPC phospholipid bilayers and increases 

the fluidity of the cell membrane. The study shows that the 

degree of absorption Bupivacaine into the peroxidized cell 

membrane is decreased approximately 6% if compared to 

that in the intact cell membrane. 

Poster Board No. 014 DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE 

PACKAGE TO ANALYzE PROTEIN INTRINSIC DISORDER. 

Mitchell D Culbert culbertm@findlay.edu, Charles Koch, 

kochc@findlay.edu, Ryan Spath spathr@findlay.edu, (Helen 

Schneider schneider@findlay.edu), (Xu Lu lu@findlay.edu). 

301 Howard St, Findlay, OH 45840. College of Sciences, the 

University of Findlay, Findlay, OH 45840 

Proteins play essential roles in cellular metabolism. It was 

traditionally believed that proteins could only perform 

their functions after they had folded properly. However, 

recent studies indicate that many protein domains do 

not have pre-formed structures in the cell, yet deliver 

important functions. This phenomenon is called protein 

intrinsic disorder and an increasing amount of evidence 

suggests that this phenomenon plays a critical role in 

the function of many proteins. Overall, an intrinsically 

disordered domain (IDD) on a protein typically contains 

disproportional percentages of amino acid residues with 

hydrophilic side chains. However, the exact amino acid 

compositions probably differ in different type of IDDs 

and this is our hypothesis. For example, a small and a big 

IDDs may have different amino acid compositions. The 

purpose of this project is to design a software package 

to analyze intrinsically disordered domains, particularly 

their amino acid compositions. By querying the public 

database of a published, representative set of proteins 

with known structures, the program delivers statistics of 

the disordered domains of these proteins, if there are any, 

analyzes the results and tests our hypothesis 

Poster Board No. 015 THE EFFECT OF DIAPAUSE ON STRESS 

TOLERANCE IN MIGRATORY MILKWEED BUGS, ONCOPELTUS 

FACIATUS. Charles A. E. Dean, charlesdean09@gmail.com. 

Nicholas M. Teets, teets.23@osu.edu. David L. Denlinger, 

denlinger.1@osu.edu. Department of Entomology 300 

Aronoff Laboratory 318 West 12 th Avenue Columbus OH 

43210. 

In response to shorter days and low food availability in the 

fall, the large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, enters a 


reproductive diapause. Diapause in large milkweed bugs is 

unique in that these insects are one of the only temperate 

species that migrates long distances during diapause. 

Thus, it is uncertain whether increased environmental 

stress tolerance is a component of the diapause program, 

since migration may allow milkweed bugs to avoid 

stressful conditions. Our overall objective in this study is to 

determine: 1) whether diapause increases environmental 

stress tolerance, 2) whether photoperiod or food shortage 

is the primary driver of increased stress tolerance 

during diapause, and 3) whether heat shock proteins are 

upregulated during diapause to enhance stress tolerance. 

Our preliminary experiments showed that diapausing 

milkweed bugs deprived of food exhibited significantly 

increased survival at both high and low temperatures 

(ANOVA, FDR, N=4-6, p


Vol. 112(1) 

Wilds, a reclaimed surface mine in Southeastern Ohio 

for salamander diversity. Forest fragments ranging from 

34.6-.9 hectares were surveyed in an effort to understand 

the impacts of woodlot size and edge-to-area ratio on the 

diversity and abundance of salamander species. Ninety 

individuals of six species were found in the six fragments 

of forest surveyed. The six species include the red spotted 

newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), northern dusky 

(Desmognathus fuscus), northern two-lined (Eurycea 

bislineata), Jefferson (Ambystoma jeffersonianum), slimy 

(Plethodon glutinosus), and the red-backed salamanders 

(Plethodon cinereus). Woodlot size and edge-to-area ratio 

were calculated using GPS coordinates and the program 

ArcMap10. As expected there was greater species 

abundance (82% of all individuals found in large, 16% 

in medium, 2% in small fragments), but not diversity in 

the larger fragments. The two largest fragments included 

the greatest number of individuals (all species); in terms 

of species diversity however, one large plot included only 

two species, while the other included six species. This 

disparity in diversity may be due to the differing amounts 

of disturbance these forests underwent in the process 

of strip-mining. The results of this study provide some 

insights into amphibian habitat associations in a landscape 

fragmented by surface mining. 

Poster Board No. 018 THE EFFECTS OF N-ACETYL-D- 

GLUCOSAMINE AND A NOVEL N-ACETYL-D-GLUCOSAMINE 

DERIVATIVE SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE IN VITRO 

PRODUCTION OF PIG OOCYTES. Elise Gerken 1 , gerkene@ 

findlay.edu, Lauren E. Elsea 1 , elseal@findlay.edu, Kaitlyn 

Lemon 1 , lemonk@findlay.edu, Rahul S. Khupse 2 , khupse@ 

findlay.edu, (Brian D. Whitaker 1 ), whitaker@findlay.edu, 

1 College of Sciences, The University of Findlay, 1000 North 

Main Street, Findlay OH 45840 and 2 College of Pharmacy, The 

University of Findlay. 

The perivitelline space which surrounds oocytes is composed 

of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) and glucuronic acid, 

and is a critical component during in vitro fertilization 

(IVF). Objectives were to determine the effects of GlcNAc 

and a GlcNAc derivative on IVF and embryo development 

of porcine oocytes. Either GlcNAc or GlcNAc-derivative 

were added (2.5, 5.0 mM) during oocyte maturation. 

Oocytes (n = 460) were evaluated for zona pellucida 

and perivitelline space thickness, intracellular levels of 

glutathione and fertilization success rates. Embryos (n = 

132) were evaluated for cleavage and blastocyst formation 

at 48 h and 144 h after IVF. Oocytes supplemented with 

GlcNAc-derivative had significantly thicker (P < 0.05) 

zona pellucida (13.29 ± 0.38 µm) than those supplemented 

with GlcNAc (10.77 ± 0.27 µm). Oocytes not supplemented 

had a significantly thinner (P < 0.05) perivitelline space 

(8.91 ± 0.41 µm) compared to GlcNAc (12.06 ± 0.45 µm) 

and GlcNAc-derivative (11.82 ± 0.67 µm) and there were 

no differences of intracellular glutathione concentration. 

The 5.0 mM GlcNAc-derivative supplemented oocytes were 

significantly less (P < 0.05) penetrated (64.0 ± 6.3%) than 

all other treatments but the non-supplemented oocytes 

had significantly less (P < 0.05) incidence of polyspermic 

penetration (30.0 ± 11.9%). The 5.0 mM GlcNAc-derivative 

had significantly fewer (P < 0.05) oocytes with male 

nuclear formation (24.0 ± 9.6%) than all other treatments. 

Non-supplemented oocytes had a significantly higher (P < 

0.05) percentage of embryos cleaved (63.8 ± 8.3%) by 48 h 

and blastocysts (14.3 ± 2.3%) by 144 h after IVF, compared 

to the supplemented oocytes. These findings suggest that 

the GlcNAc-derivative supplementation may increase 

the zona pellucida thickness during maturation but 

supplementation of GlcNAc or GlcNAc-derivative are not 

effective in blocking polyspermic penetration or increasing 

the success of embryo development, despite increasing the 

perivitelline space thickness. 

Poster Board No. 019 THE EFFECTS OF GLUCURONIC ACID 

AND N-ACETYL-D-GLUCOSAMINE SUPPLEMENTATION ON 

THE IN VITRO PRODUCTION OF PORCINE OOCYTES. Taylor M. 

Donley, donleyt@findlay.edu, Allison L. Buck, bucka@findlay. 

edu, Austin R. Clark, clarka1@findlay.edu, (Brian D. Whitaker), 

whitaker@findlay.edu, College of Sciences, The University of 

Findlay, 1000 North Main Street, Findlay OH 45840. 

The in vitro production of pig embryos is not effective due 

to high levels of polyspermic penetration. The objective 

was to assess the in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo 

development of pig oocytes supplemented with perivitelline 

space components. Glucuronic acid or N-acetyl-Dglucosamine 

(GlcNAc) were supplemented (2.5, 5.0 mM) to 

the media during the last 24 h of oocyte maturation. At the 

end of maturation, oocytes (n = 491) were evaluated for zona 

pellucida and perivitelline space thickness, intracellular 

levels of glutathione, and fertilization kinetics. Embryos 

were cultured and evaluated for cleavage and blastocyst 

formation at 48 h and 144 h after IVF. Oocytes (n = 491) 

not supplemented had significantly thicker (P < 0.05) zona 

pellucida and significantly thinner (P < 0.05) perivitelline 

space compared to the other treatments. The zona pellucida 

of the glucuronic acid supplementation were significantly 

thicker (P < 0.05) than the GlcNAc supplementation. The 

treatments resulted in no differences in intracellular 

glutathione concentrations, sperm penetration, or male 

pronuclear formation. Supplementation of GlcNAc 

significantly increased (P < 0.05) polyspermic penetration 

compared to the other groups. No supplementation and 

glucuronic acid supplemented oocytes had a significantly 

higher (P < 0.05) percentage of embryos cleaved by 48 h 

and blastocysts by 144 h after IVF, compared to the GlcNAc 

supplemented oocytes. Results indicate that glucuronic 

acid supplementation during oocyte maturation increases 

perivitelline space thickness and embryonic development, 

and reduces polyspermic penetration compared to GlcNAc 

supplementation; suggesting that glucuronic acid is 

involved in the successful block of polyspermic penetration. 

Poster Board No. 020 THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON 

MORTALITY AND GROWTH OF JUVENILE SEAHORSES 

(HIPPOCAMPUS KUDA) Jennifer Trumbo, jtrumbo@capital. 

edu, Biological and Environmental Sciences Dept, Capital 

University, 1 College and Main, Columbus, Ohio 43209 

Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are important inhabitants 

of marine ecosystems, and also popular fish for curios, 

aquariums, and medicinal uses. To support these three 

distinctive uses in society, aquaculture has emerged as a 

prominent economic provider and environmental protector. 

Little is known about the population dynamics and 

responses of seahorses to environmental parameters like 

temperature, in both wild and captive-bred populations. 

As climate change becomes a greater influence on global 

water temperatures, we must re-evaluate our treatment 

of the environment and discover new ways to assess the 

effect on those species that depend on stable habitats. 

Many of these effects are hypothesized to be negative. This 

study was aimed at strengthening knowledge of seahorse 

population dynamics and supporting development of 

consistent seahorse aquaculture practices. The connection 

between three temperature treatments (26 °C, 29 °C, and 

32 °C), growth rate, and mortality rate among 360 H. kuda 

juveniles was monitored during a twelve day period in 

aquaculture. Three replicates containing 40 individuals 

each were established per temperature treatment. A 

possible correlation was found between average growth 

rate of juvenile H. kuda and the temperature of their 

environment. The mean growth of H. kuda between three 

temperature treatments was found to be significant using 

ANOVA, with a p value of 2.30544E-38 at a significance 

level of < 0.05. Also, the lowest mortality was found in 

juveniles in the 32 °C treatment at 15% less than the 26 

°C treatment. 

Poster Board No. 021 USING POLYPHENOLS TO INHIBIT 

THE AROMATASE ENzYME TO FIGHT BREAST CANCER. 

Michael Burgess, mburgess@capital.edu (Kerry Cheesman, 

kchessma@capital.edu), Biological & Environmental Sciences 

Dept, Capital University, 1 College and Main, Columbus, OH 

43209

Vol. 112(1) 

The aromatase enzyme has been one of the targets studied 

in an effort to fight breast cancer and is also of interest to 

athletes and bodybuilders in a quest to optimize testosterone 

in the body. This enzyme can be competitively inhibited 

by either steroidal or non-steroidal inhibitors. Recent 

studies have shown that various foods and alcohol contain 

polyphenols that can inhibit aromatase activity. The goal 

of this research is to find a polyphenol that will inhibit 

the aromatase enzyme that is better than a steroidal one. 

To do this, ELISA test are being used to compare several 

polyphenol families and to find the polyphenol family that 

inhibits aromatase the best. Next is to compare level of 

inhibition with each derivative within its own polyphenol 

family (i.e. Flavone: Chrysin, Apigenin, Acacetin, ect.). 

These results will be compared with foods and beverages 

that are known to contain variable concentrations of 

each polyphenol. This will define what is the food and 

beverage to consume to inhibit the aromatase enzyme 

naturally. The last step is to look into the stereochemistry 

of the polyphenols to see how varying the size, polarity, 

and orientation of each might affect the inhibition of the 

enzyme. Using these findings will produce a polyphenol 

synthetically that can be used to help treat breast cancer 

and also be used by bodybuilders and athletes. 

Poster Board No. 022 THE MULTISENSORY PERCEPTION OF 

FLAVOR: THE INFLUENCE OF ALTERED COLORATION OF FOOD 

ON FLAVOR DISCRIMINATION. Moriah Plattner, mplattne@ 

capital.edu, (Kimberly Heym and Kerry Cheesman), Biological 

& Environmental Sciences Dept, Capital University, 1 College 

and Main, Columbus OH 43209 

Visual and olfactory stimuli influence human perception 

of food prior to gustatory stimuli. Olfactory signals arrive 

to the brain milliseconds prior to visual signals, allowing 

for the smell of foods and drinks to be recognized and more 

directly correlated to taste than visual stimuli. However, 

visual cues may strengthen or weaken the perception of 

the flavors intensity. This study seeks to determine how 

dyeing drinks blue influences taste perception. Blue 

coloration is not a coloration of food found in nature; 

nevertheless, marketing enterprises for food industries are 

presenting people with foods that have been altered with 

dyes to a blue coloration (eg: blue M&Ms and blue sports 

drinks). College students (n > 100) are being asked to taste 

three drinks of different flavors (lime, strawberry and 

plum) where the color of the liquid has been dissociated 

from the base flavor (eg: strawberry flavor and blue color 

of the drink). Each flavor and each color (green, red and 

blue) will appear once randomly within the trial samples. 

Data regarding the ability to discriminate flavor and 

whether or not those perceptions are altered when a food 

or drink’s color is changed are being gathered in an effort 

to determine which – if any – of the visual stimuli are more 

influential in taste perception. 

Poster Board No. 023 CREATING ANTIBODIES TO S. AUREUS 

BY FUSION OF MYELOMAS WITH MOUSE SPLEEN CELLS 

AND CLONING BY LIMITING DILUTION: Dawn M. Helterbran 

(DMHelterbran@student.ysu.edu), Victoria M. Lesniak 

(VMLesniak@student.ysu.edu), Diana L. Fagan (dlfagan@ysu. 

edu), 146 E. Second St. Girard, OH. 44420 

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen that 

can be difficult to treat, as it can be resistant to many 

commonly used antibiotics. Creating antibody producing 

cells is a technique that has been practiced and modified 

for nearly 40 years. The purpose of the study is to create 

antibodies against Staphylococcus aureus that could be 

used to diagnose or treat staphylococcus infections. Fusion 

was conducted by other researchers, and subcloning was 

performed in this study. MRC-5 fibroblast cells were used 

as feeder cells. These cells provide growth factors for the 

P3X hybridoma clones that were added by limiting dilution 

to a sterile 96-well plate. These cells were incubated in 

RPMI media containing 20% FCS for four days. The wells 

were then examined for single clones. Single clones were 

fed three times a week until two-thirds confluent in a T25 


flask. These clones were tested for antibody production 

using an ELISA. Four ELISAs were performed against the 

antigens Staphylococcus aureus T3 and Staphylococcus 

aureus T8. Of 69 subclones, three produced antibodies that 

reacted with T8 S. Aureus. These antibodies were not type 

specific, as they also reacted with T3 S. Aureus. Two clones 

reacted with T3 S. Aureus and appear to be type specific, as 

they did not react with T8. These results could be applied 

to further diagnosis or treatment. 

Poster Board No. 024 THE ABUNDANCE OF WINTER RAPTORS 

ON A RECLAIMED SURFACE MINE IN SOUTHEAST OHIO. 

Elizabeth M. Bullard ebullard@muskingum.edu, (Danny J. 

Ingold, ingold@muskingum.edu); Biology Dept., Muskingum 

University, 163 Stormont St., New Concord, OH 43762. 

Over the past 30 years, grassland birds have declined more 

than any other bird group in the Midwest. This decline 

is mostly the result of anthropogenic influences such as 

habitat degradation and fragmentation. The results of 

several recent studies suggest that reclaimed surface mines 

provide suitable nesting and wintering habitat for a variety 

of obligate grassland birds. These studies have focused 

mainly on the nesting success of grassland songbirds with 

little research being done on fall and winter raptors. The 

objective of this research is to use a driving transect to 

survey different species of fall and winter raptors, as well 

as to examine their perch and habitat preferences on a 

reclaimed surface mine in southeastern Ohio (the Wilds). 

Transect data will be collected from early November 2011, 

through late February 2012, and compared to the results 

that Ingold reported along the same transect route from 

January through April 2009. Common species of migrant 

raptors in this region include rough-legged hawks (Buteo 

lagopus), northern harriers (Circus cyaneus), and shorteared 

owls (Asio flammeus) while resident raptors include 

American kestrels (Falco sparverius), red-tailed hawks 

(Buteo jamaicensis), red shoulder-hawks (Buteo lineatus), 

and Coopers hawks (Accipiter cooperii). By monitoring the 

raptors on this reclaimed surface mine and comparing the 

findings to a recent study on this site, it may be possible 

to determine whether there are differences in raptor 

abundances in the fall and early winter versus late winter 

and spring. In addition, it will be interesting to note 

whether short-eared owls show up at this location during 

this study (they were absent from this site in 2009). 

Poster Board No. 025 EFFECTS OF CAFFEINE ON CANCER CELL 

GROWTH. Thomas Pierson 1 piersont1@findlay.edu, James 

Hummel 1 hummelj@findlay.edu, Tess van Kan 2 vankant@ 

findlay.edu, Mark Frilling 2 frillingm@findlay.edu, Xiaodi 

Hu 3 hu.350@buckeyemail.osu.edu, (Xu Lu 2 lu@findlay.edu), 

Box 0973 1000 N. Main St., Findlay OH 45840. 1 University 

of Findlay College of Pharmacy, Findlay OH 45840 and 2 The 

University of Findlay College of Sciences, Findlay OH 45850, 

and 3 The Ohio State University, Columbus OH 43210. 

It has long been known that caffeine can inhibit cancer cell 

growth. However, the exact cellular mechanisms affected 

remain undetermined. The purpose of the project is to define 

the effects of caffeine on cell growth at specific conditions 

in vitro, as well as determining what molecular machinery 

that is inhibited or destroyed due to the application of the 

drug. The hypothesis is that the addition of caffeine during 

cell growth will significantly decrease the growth rate of 

cells tested. The human prostate adenocarcinoma (PC-3), 

colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116), and acute T cell leukemia 

(Jurkat E6-1) cell lines were tested to investigate the effects 

of caffeine on cell growth. PC-3 and HCT-116 cells were 

cultured adherently on a welled plates in DMEM + 10% 

FBS medium with 0—4 mmol concentrations of caffeine. 

Cells were grown in a 37°C+ 5% CO 2 environment. Jurkat 

E6-1 cells were cultured suspended in RPMI-1640 + 10% 

FBS medium with identical caffeine and environmental 

conditions. Cells were counted every 24 hours for three 

days using a hemocytometer and light microscope. As 

expected, growth inhibition of all cell lines occurred with the 

addition of caffeine. In 1mmol caffeine concentration, PC-3


Vol. 112(1) 

and HCT-116 cell growth decreased by approximately 50% 

per day. Jurkat E6-1 growth rate inhibition is still being 

determined. The exact molecular mechanism(s) of such 

inhibitory effects on all cell lines are under investigation. 

Poster Board No. 026 THERMAL ANALYSIS OF MALARIAL 

RHOPTRY PEPTIDES Alicia Irizarry 1 ; Alicia.Irizarry001@ 

acad.tri-c.edu; 4388 Park West Oval Cleveland, OH 44135; 

Tobili Y. Sam-Yellowe, Ph.D. 2 ; Alan Riga, Ph.D. 3 ; 1 Cuyahoga 

Community College, Cleveland OH; 2 Cleveland State 

University, Department of BGES. Cleveland, OH; 3 Cleveland 

State University, Department of Chemistry, Cleveland, OH. 

Diagnosing malaria today remains difficult because the 

infrastructure of the areas where malaria is endemic is 

usually inadequate and the trained individuals needed to 

interpret test results are often far away. The goal of this 

research is to identify signature properties of three malarial 

peptides derived from the rhoptry organelle using thermal 

analysis. The rhoptry organelle is associated with the 

blood stage and invasion of the malaria parasite. Signature 

properties which were observed were phase transitions, 

thermal conductivity, and mass loss due to temperature 

changes. Malarial peptides were synthesized as multiple 

antigenic peptides (MAPS) containing 10 amino acids. 

Three types of thermal analytical techniques were used; 

dielectric thermal analysis (DEA), thermogravimetric 

analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry 

(DSC). DEA determines the thermal conductivity of a 

sample as a function of temperature; TGA determines 

the mass loss due to temperature changes; and DSC 

observes phase transitions of a sample. Three peptides 

were observed: 05-154, 05-157, and 05-175. DEA proved 

peptide 05-175 was most thermally conductive of the three 

observed. TGA showed peptide 05-175 retained the most 

moisture of the three; however, the mass loss occurred 

in 35 minutes. Peptides 05-154 and 05-157 lost the most 

moisture but the mass loss occurred in 40-43 minutes. The 

DSC plots indicated that peptide 05-175 crystallized and 

melted before peptides 05-154 and 05-157. The DSC plots 

for peptides 05-154 and 05-157 were difficult to interpret 

because the phase transitions did not follow a observable 

pattern. Properties of the peptides were identified however; 

the results indicated that further analysis is needed. 

Poster Board No. 027 DETERMINATION OF SUBCELLULAR 

DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN SRY PROTEINS IN TRANSIENTLY 

TRANSFECTED CHINESE HAMSTER OVARY CELLS. Rachael 

L. Sciplin, rachaelsciplin@walsh.edu, Adam C. Underwood, 

aunderwood@walsh.edu, Walsh University, 2020 East Maple 

St. NE, North Canton OH 44720. 

The sex determining region of the Y chromosome, SRY, 

is a transcription factor encoding an 80 amino acid (aa) 

high mobility group (HMG) box DNA binding domain 

that is flanked by a nuclear localization signal (NLS) at 

the N (nNLS) and C (cNLS) terminus. In rat Sry2, the 

nNLS contains a histidine rather than an arginine at aa 

21, which is shown to reduce nuclear import. The objective 

of this study was to determine if aa 76 (aa 21 in rat) in 

human SRY (hSRY) modulates nuclear import in a similar 

manner given the architectural differences between 

human and rat proteins. The hypothesis tested was; 

hSRY, mutated to encode a H at aa 76 will exhibit reduced 

nuclear accumulation. This hypothesis was tested by 

transfecting Chinese hamster ovary cells with either pEF1/ 

hSRY or pEF1/hSRY(H76) constructs encoding native 

or mutated proteins respectively. SRY distribution was 

determined through immunocytochemistry using a goat 

anti-Myc primary antibody (1:400) and donkey anti-goat 

IgG-DyLight ® 550 conjugate (1:800) (Bethyl Laboratories, 

Inc.). SlowFade ® Gold mounting medium with DAPI 

(Invitrogen) was applied and images were captured (from 

three replicates of 12 cells/treatment) on an Olympus IX51 

with a DP71 digital camera. From these images it was 

determined that hSRY(H76) exhibits both cytoplasmic and 

nuclear accumulation, while native hSRY localizes only 

to the nucleus. These data from human SRY corroborate 

localization data from the rat, indicating architectural 

differences between human and rat proteins outside the 

HMG do not enhance or reduce nuclear accumulation 

directed by aa 76/21 in the nNLS. 

Poster Board No. 028 A CROSS-FOSTERING ANALYSIS OF 

THE EFFECT OF PCB ON BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT OF 

SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS. David E. Mankin 1 , dmankin@ 

bgsu.edu, zhi M. Wang 2 , wangzhi.mary@gmail.com, Ellen N. 

Dover 3 , edover@wakehealth.edu, Howard C. Cromwell 1 , hcc@ 

bgsu.edu, Lee A. Meserve 1 , lmeserv@bgsu.edu, 1 Bowling 

Green State University, Departments of Biological Sciences 

and Psychology, Bowling Green OH 43403, 2 Washington 

University, and 3 Wake Forest University. 

The overall aim of this project is to compare the effects 

of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure in young rats 

during the prenatal period versus exposure to altered 

maternal care from a parent that has been exposed to 

these compounds. Prenatal PCB exposure has been found 

to alter motor, sensory, and psychological functions in 

various experimental models and wild populations. One 

major way that this occurs is by altering thyroid hormone 

synthesis, circulation, and feedback mechanisms. In the 

current study, 32 female Sprague-Dawley rats were used, 

and once pregnant, either placed on a diet containing 

equal amounts of two PCB congeners (47/77, 25ppm total) 

or left on a control diet. After birth, all dams were once 

again placed on control diets and each litter was either 

cross-fostered to a dam of the opposing diet or left with 

their birth dam. On the following postnatal days (PNDs), 

behavioral measures including ultrasonic vocalization 

(USV) emissions following isolation (PND 10), conditioned 

odor preference (PNDs 12 - 14), grooming syntax (PNDs 15 – 

17), and open field behavior (PNDs 15 – 16) were monitored 

between the different conditions to reveal any deficits that 

the PCB exposure may have caused. In the PCB animals 

USV number and locomotor activities were increased (69% 

and 122%, respectively), and grooming syntax was altered 

compared to controls. Plasma concentrations of the thyroid 

hormone thyroxine were subnormal in PCB animals. 

These findings support the notion that relatively minor 

and variable exposure to PCB can alter the development of 

typical behavioral activities. 

Poster Board No. 029 EFFECT OF COLLAGEN ON MODULAR 

POLY(ETYHLENE GLYCOL) SCAFFOLD STIFFNESS. Michael J. 

Majcher, mjm183@zips.uakron.edu, (Rebecca Kuntz Willits, 

Ph.D, willits@uakron.edu), The University of Akron, OLRC 

301, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Akron, OH 

44325-0302. 

The purpose of the experiment is to analyze the structure 

of modular poly(ethylene glycol) scaffolds formed via 

compaction of PEG microgels and collagen I. A previous 

study by Scott et al, 2011 described the design and 

fabrication of these scaffolds as a part of an overall goal 

to produce a modular scaffold in which stiffness remains 

constant as the chemical properties change. For the 

next phase of the project, it was hypothesized that (i) 

the modugels will not have changes in stiffness with 

degradation of collagen, (ii) the 100 µg/mL modular scaffolds 

will release all added collagen I within the five days tested, 

and (iii) the 0 µg/mL gels will reveal no collagen release. 

First, PEG microgels were formed via salt precipitation of 

PEG-diacrylate and UV crosslinking and then compacted 

with collagen and 4-arm PEG-amine to form a scaffold. 

Next, degradation of collagen upon exposure to collagenase 

was investigated utilizing a standard curve for degraded 

collagen. The standard curve was used to convert relative 

fluorescence intensity to mass of collagen at various time 

points. The final step will be to examine the stiffness of 

the scaffold after exposure to collagenase. PEG microgels 

were characterized by average diameter (1.60 ± 0.25 µm), 

swelling ratio by mass (15.10 ± 0.49), swelling ratio by 

volume (16.79 ± 0.55), polydispersity index (1.27), mesh size 

(15.97 ± 0.08 nm), and storage modulus (2.00 ± 0.01 MPa). 

Overall, the scaffolds show an average percent release of

Vol. 112(1) 

40% of the total 20 µg of collagen added per scaffold, which 

degraded within 48 ± 2 hours after fabrication. Stiffness 

measurements are still to be collected at time points of 0, 

1, 2, 3, and 4 days and will be correlated to the amount 

of collagen remaining in the scaffold. After future work is 

completed, the results will allow further investigations of 

cell behavior in 3D scaffolds with varying mechanical and 

chemical properties. 

Poster Board No. 030 PROJECTING THE AMNIOSEROSA INTO 

TWO DIMENSIONS. Eric A. Copenhaver 1 , eac48@zips.uakron. 

edu, David Mashburn 2 , david.n.mashburn@gmail.com, M. 

Shane Hutson 2 , shane.hutson@vanderbilt.edu, 1 Department 

of Physics, Ayer Hall, The University of Akron, Akron OH 

44325-4001, and 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, 

Vanderbilt University, 6301 Stevenson Center, VU Station B 

#351807, Nashville TN 37235. 

Morphogenesis, the development of an organism’s form, is 

governed by both genetics and mechanical processes driving 

cells’ movements. To understand these cell-level mechanics, 

it is possible to probe morphogenetic processes in 

systems that grant experimental access, such as germ-band 

retraction in Drosophila melanogaster embryos, during 

which an epithelial group of cells called the amnioserosa 

undergoes vast morphological changes. Intercellular forces 

driving such changes can be detailed using new techniques: 

SeedWater Segmenter developed by Mashburn at Vanderbilt 

University and Video Force Microscopy developed by 

Brodland at Waterloo University. These techniques require 

a time-lapse series of two-dimensional images; however, 

the amnioserosa is wrapped around the surface of the 

embryo in three dimensions. This research aims to present 

a new algorithm to flatten three-dimensional image data of 

the amnioserosa into two dimensions. Image data is taken 

on a spinning disk confocal microscope. This algorithm is 

written in Java as a plugin for the National Institute of 

Health’s ImageJ software. The surface is transformed into 

cylindrical coordinates. Then, the variance in pixel intensities 

is used to determine where the surface lies, as the variance 

is high at the surface. The algorithm was applied to 

one data series consisting of 124 time steps. The technique 

shows a qualitative improvement over previous techniques 

such as average or maximum intensity projections. 

Poster Board No. 031 SEASONAL AND LUNAR CYCLIC 

VARIATIONS IN ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION OF THYMUS 

VULGARIS AND VARIATION BETWEEN CONSTITUENT 

COMPOSITION WITHIN STEM AND LEAF PORTIONS OF THE 

AERIAL PORTION OF THE PLANT. Elizabeth Cherry (e-cherry@ 

onu.edu) . [Vicki A. Motz (v-motz@onu.edu) ; Linda M. Young( 

l-young@onu.edu); Christopher Bowers (c-bowers@onu.edu) 

]402 West College Ave. Ada, OH 45810 

Anecdotal evidence favors harvest of thyme plants in the 

morning after flowering. Seasonal and lunar variations 

in thymol content of Thymus vulgaris have been noted. 

To determine prime harvest time, this study examines 

essential oil composition in Thymus vulgaris plants 

through a growing season encompassing 5 lunar cycles. 

Thymol, the predominant phenolic component of Thymus 

vulgaris has been used in hospitals as an antimicrobial 

agent. The constituents: carvacrol, linalool, and p-cymene 

have been suggested as possible antimicrobial synergists. 

Aerial portions of 24 two year old Thymus vulgaris plants 

grown organically in full sun, with natural rainfall, were 

harvested throughout the growing season, at 8am on 

days corresponding to ¼, full, ¾ and new moon states. 

A minimum of 6 plants was used for each sample to 

avoid individual plant variation. Plants were dried, and 

leaf and stem segments were extracted in 95% ethanol, 

reconstituted to 1.000 g thyme/mL ethanol and analyzed 

utilizing gas chromatography/mass spectrophotometry 

to identify constituent levels. Thyme concentration was 

lowest in April (1.21E-04gm thymol/gm plant) and rose 

irregularly throughout the growing season. No correlation 

to lunar cycle was seen. Thymol content was ten times 

greater in leaves than in stems (px 2 =0.0012 with 

naturally pollinated flowers setting significantly (Tukey- 

Kramer, p>0.0005) fewer fruits (16.7%) compared to hand 

self-pollinated flowers (63.3%), which were similar in fruit 

set to hand crossed-pollinated flowers (43.3%). Although, 

fruit abortion rates did not significantly differ between 

treatments (Kruskal-Wallis, p=0.06), self-pollinated 

flowers experienced the highest abortion rates at 16.7%, 

followed by naturally pollinated plants with an abortion 

rate of 6.67%. Out-crossed flowers experienced the lowest 

abortion rates at 3.33%. This data indicates pollinator 

limitation of fruit set in C. candidum, suggesting that 

C. candidum reproduction relies heavily on attraction of


Vol. 112(1) 

suitable pollinators, but that deceit pollination may be 

important to limit the trend of increased abortion rates 

associated with self-pollination events. 

Poster Board No. 034 ALKYLATION INDUCED APOPTOSIS IN 

CADMIUM TREATED CELLS Lauren Timperman, (timpermanl@ 

findlay.edu); Sara Kubera, (kubera@findlay.edu); (Michael A. 

Edelbrock, Ph.D.), The University of Findlay, 1000 North Main 

St., Findlay, OH 45840 

Cadmium and cadmium containing compounds are known 

to be carcinogenic. However, the exact mechanism of cell 

transformation is not yet understood. Cadmium may 

interfere with DNA repair by interfering with protein 

expression or function. In particular a functional DNA 

repair system is important to induce apoptosis caused 

by alkylation treatment. This study seeks to determine 

whether cadmium treatment may delay or prevent 

apoptosis induced by the therapeutic, alkylating agent, 

Temozolomide (TMZ). HeLa (DNA repair competent) 

and HeLa-MR (DNA repair defective) cells were cultured 

in growth media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine 

serum. Cells were treated with 0uM, 1uM, and 5uM 

cadmium, and, within each concentration group, TMZ 

(50uM) at intervals of 0, 12, 24, 48, and 120 hours. The 

nuclear and cytosolic proteins were extracted and their 

total protein concentrations normalized after Bradford 

Analysis. Western Blot analysis was conducted to compare 

protein expression of cleaved caspase 3 as an indication of 

apoptosis over the time course. Preliminary results indicate 

that apoptosis is induced in HeLa (DNA repair proficient) 

cells after 48 hours, whereas evidence of induction is 

delayed to 120 hours in HeLa-MR (DNA repair defective) 

cells. Further investigations of the effects of cadmium on 

DNA repair protein expression and apoptosis induction 

are on-going. Differences in protein expression observed 

in treated versus untreated cells may provide evidence 

that cadmium is interfering with apoptosis induced by 

alkylation damage. 

Poster Board No. 035 DEVELOPMENT OF AN EQUINE 

LYMPHOCYTE MODEL TO EVALUATE GENOTOXICITY. Sara 

Steward, (stewards@findlay.edu); Carolyn Lund; Kelley Black; 

(Michael Edelbrock, Ph.D.), The University of Findlay, Mail 

Stop 1051, 1000 North Main St., Findlay OH 45840. 

This study examines chromosome damage in the presence 

of cadmium and oxidative stress. Our hypothesis is that 

animals could serve as useful models as genotoxic sensors 

to evaluate environmental stresses. Further, that biotin, 

an anti-oxidant B-vitamin complex present in equine 

nutritional supplements, could reverse the genotoxic 

effect. Horse blood was collected and lymphocytes 

stimulated to divide using phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). 

Treated cells were exposed to hydrogen peroxide, 

cadmium and/or dietary supplement. Controls groups 

were untreated. Cells were subsequently blocked from 

cytokinesis by addition of cytochalasin-B. The resulting 

multinucleated lymphocytes were isolated, fixed, 

and stained. The presence of chromosomal aberrations 

(micronuclei, blebs, and bridges) in bi-nucleated cells 

was used as an indicator that genotoxic stress occurred. 

Aberrations were scored and normalized based on 

their proliferation index (mean=1.27). Chromosomal 

aberration indices were conducted in triplicate using a 

minimum of 100 observations per treatment. A higher 

frequency of aberrations of hydrogen peroxide and 

cadmium treated cells, compared to that of control 

cells, is indicative of genotoxic stress. A reduction of 

aberrations in biotin treated cells indicates a protective 

effect. Hydrogen peroxide treated cells (0.2 uM H 2 O 2 ) 

resulted in an increased chromosomal aberration index 

(0.553) compared to control samples (0.247). Further, 

treatment with biotin reduced baseline genotoxic damage 

as measured by an index of 0.137. Both comparisons 

are significantly different based on a student’s t-test 

result of less than 0.05. Current studies are ongoing to 

investigate the effects of additional hydrogen peroxide 

(0.05 to 0.20 uM) and cadmium (5 uM) treatments as 

well as the protective effects of biotin. 

Poster Board No. 036 IDENTIFICATION OF NEURONAL 

INTERLEUKIN-16 INTERACTING PROTEINS BY AFFINITY 

PURIFICATION, Charles Davis (cdavis9@ashland.edu), 

Rebecca Corbin (rcorbin@ashland.edu), Steven D. Fenster 

(sfenster@ashland.edu), Department of Biology/Toxicology, 

Ashland University, 401 College Avenue, Ashland OH 44805 

Neuronal Interleukin-16 (NIL-16) is a neuronal-specific 

protein with restricted expression to the hippocampus 

and cerebellum: two brain regions known to be 

involved in learning and memory but also vulnerable 

to neurodegeneration in diseases such as Alzheimer’s 

disease. Structurally, NIL-16 is a multidomain protein 

capable of organizing synaptic signaling complexes in 

neurons, the major cell type of the brain. NIL-16 consists 

of five conserved regions called PDZ domains shown to 

be involved in synapse formation: a process required for 

efficient communication between neurons. Deciphering 

the molecular mechanisms involved in synapses formation 

is critical for understanding neuronal signaling and may 

contribute toward improved diagnosis and treatment 

of neurodevelopmental disorders. To identify proteins 

capable of interacting with the PDZ domains of NIL-16, 

we devised a purification strategy using a combination 

of affinity chromatography, SDS-PAGE, and MALDI-MS 

analysis. DNA plasmids were engineered to express the 

individual coding region for the five PDZ domains of NIL- 

16 fused to glutathione-S-transferase (GST) in Escherichia 

coli. GST-fusion proteins were affinity purified, separated 

by SDS- PAGE electrophoresis, and analyzed by MALDI- 

MS. Analysis of peptide digests profiles from two fusion 

proteins, GST-only and PDZ.2, revealed profiles of 59.6% 

and 67%. To optimize our affinity purification procedure, 

we generated a FLAG-epitope tagged version of HDAC3, a 

known NIL-16 binding partner, in COS-7 cells as a positive 

control for affinity purification. Current studies are focused 

on optimizing methodology for affinity purification of the 

known NIL-16 binding protein, HDAC3, and unknown 

binding partners from mouse brain extract. 

Poster Board No. 037 PICCOLO (PCLO) IS DIFFERENTIALLY 

EXPRESSED DURING MOUSE BRAIN DEVELOPMENT. Lindsey 

Knapp (lknapp1@ashland.edu), Steven D. Fenster (advisor) 

(sfenster@ashland.edu), Department of Biology/Toxicology, 

Ashland University, 401 College Avenue, Ashland OH 44805 

Piccolo is a multidomain protein with restricted expression 

at synapses. Synapses are specialized cellular structures 

that allow for efficient communication between neurons. 

During neuronal development proper formation and 

stabilization of synapses is critical. It is widely known 

that malfunctions in synaptic signaling can lead to 

disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and 

major depression. A recent genome-wide analysis of genes 

differentially expressed in the brains of patients with 

bipolar syndrome revealed that genetic variations in the 

human gene for Piccolo (PCLO) were strongly associated 

with major depressive disorder. Previous studies have 

shown that two alternatively spliced mRNA (messenger 

RNA) variants of PCLO (C2A and C2B) are expressed in 

both mouse and human brain. Analysis of PCLO mRNA 

expression during neuronal development will provide 

valuable clues about the role of Piccolo in orchestrating 

synapse formation. Using C57BL/6 mice (Mus musculus) 

as a model of mammalian brain, we sought to quantify 

expression of the C2A and C2B variants using mRNA 

purified from individual mouse brain at five development 

ages (embryonic day 18, postnatal day 1, postnatal day 

7 , postnatal day , and adult). Complementary DNA 

(cDNA) was reverse transcribed from mRNA. Realtime 

quantitative PCR (qPCR) revealed relatively equal 

expression levels of C2A compared with the C2B variant 

at all ages except for adult where the expression of the 

C2A variant was two-fold higher suggesting differential 

expression of Piccolo splice variants may play a role in

Vol. 112(1) 

brain development. Future studies will focus on using a 

combination of qPCR and in situ hybridization to define 

temporal and spatial gene expression of PCLO splice 

variants during mouse brain development. 

Poster Board No. 038 METHACRYLAMIDE CHITOSAN AIDS IN 

NEURONAL DIFFERENTIATION IN 2D AND 3D ENVIRONMENTS 

Elizabeth J. Endrizzi, eje7@zips.uakron.edu, Aleesha 

McCormick, amj51@zips.uakron.edu, Nic D. Leipzig , PhD, 

nl21@uakron.edu, 200 E. Buchtel Commons, Whitby Hall 211, 

Akron, OH 44325-3906 

Mesenchymal stems cells (MSCs) are an attractive and 

readily available source for tissue engineering because 

of their ease of harvesting and ability to differentiate 

in multiple lineages. Currently, for nervous system 

injuries there is no easily accessible adult cell source for 

neural regenerative applications. In this study rat MSCs 

are harvested from bone barrow, then cultured and 

differentiated into neuronal cells via chemical and physical/ 

scaffold cues. Two surface treatments, receiving two types 

of differentiation media, were tested to determine the 

conditions required to facilitate neuronal differentiation. 

Glass coverslips were coated with poly-D-Lysine or a soft 

methacrylamide chitosan (MAC) hydrogel, both groups 

were treated with laminin to promote cell adhesion. Cells 

were seeded at a density of 5,000 cells/cm 2 and maintained 

in chemically defined media (CDM) overnight. The next 

day one group received fresh CDM and the other group 

received CDM with 150 ng/mL interferon gamma (IFN-γ), 

a factor known to encourage neuron differentiation in other 

stem cells. Cells were observed for seven days then were 

fixed and stained for cell markers using histological stains 

and immunocytochemistry. Neuronal cells were identified 

using a class III β-tubulin stain. Cells were also stained 

using histological stains to identify any cell differentiation 

into bone, adipose and muscle cells. Preliminary results 

show that 80 ± 8% of cells differentiated into neurons 

when subjected to IFN-γ on MAC coated surfaces where 

surfaces coated with Poly-D lysine and laminin displayed 

27± 11% neuronal differentiation. The next stages of the 

experiment include reproducing the 2-dimensional study 

as well as developing a 3-dimensional differentiation study 

using scaffolds developed from MAC. 

Poster Board No. 039 ELECTRICAL STIMULATION TO 

ENHANCE NEURITE OUTGROWTH IN NEURAL STEM CELLS. 

Liza Kobelt, lkobelt08@gmail.com, Alexandra Antonas, 

aantonas1@gmail.com, Ashley Wilkinson, aew18@zips. 

uakron.edu, Nic D. Leipzig, PhD nl21@uakron.edu, The 

University of Akron, 200 E. Buchtel Commons, Whitby Hall 

211, Akron, OH, 44325-3906 

Brain and spinal cord injuries affect over 2 million 

people in the US annually and are generally irreversible. 

Failure to heal injuries to the CNS is largely due to the 

inhibition of axon re-growth and interconnection past 

the site of injury. In previous studies from last summer, 

electrical stimulation has aided in increasing neuronal 

outgrowth of chick embryo dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in 

vitro. We hypothesize that neurite length of differentiating 

neural stem cells (NSCs) will increase after DC electrical 

stimulation following a step-rest pattern for 7 d; in 

addition, neurites will align parallel to the electrical field. 

NSCs were harvested from the subventricular zone of adult 

rat forebrain and expanded as neurospheres. The custombuilt 

stimulation culture chamber consists of a rectangular 

frame made from nonconductive ultem with aclar adhered 

to the bottom and platinum plates (electrodes) at each end. 

The electrodes were attached to a DC electrical source. 

Culture surfaces were coated with poly-D-lysine and 

laminin to aid attachment. Cells were seeded at 40,000 

cells/cm 2 in media supplemented with interferon-γ, a factor 

shown to encourage NSC differentiation into neurons. 

Cells were stimulated between 5-10 V for 10 min/d over 

5 d in a controlled CO 2 environment. Initial observations 

showed that stimulation resulted in retraction of neurites, 

most likely due to sensitivity to these voltages in NSCs 


as compared to DRGs. This is interesting since our lab 

has recently observed DRG neurite elongation in response 

to these same conditions. Ongoing work is focusing on 

determining the voltages and step-rest intervals that 

encourage NSC neurite extension in primary nuerons. 

Previous studies have primarily used electrical stimulation 

to study axonal guidance and extension, our experiments 

focus on the effects of electrical fields during NSC 

differentiation into neurons. 

Poster Board No. 040 ASSESSMENT OF SUGAR CANE BIO- 

ETHANOL DEHYDRATION PROCESS ALTERNATIVES. Michel 

E. Kahwaji Janho (2) Michel.Kahwaji@Gmail.com, Fernando D. 

Mele (1) , María Rosa Hernández (1) , Mauricio A. Colombo (1) , and 

Jorge E. Gatica (1, 2) , (1) Departamento de Ingeniería de Procesos 

y Gestión Industrial, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, 

Avda. Independencia 1800 San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán 

Argentina, (2) Department of Chemical and Biomedical 

Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue 

– SH455, Cleveland OH 44115 USA. 

Environmental effects and health hazards posed by fossilfuel 

based technologies complemented by changes in 

the global economy have further demanded the need for 

developing cleaner and more efficient technologies that 

rely on renewable resources. An alternative, commonly 

referred to as bio-fuels, has significantly matured and 

today’s economy recognizes the significance of being able to 

produce ethanol from renewable resources such as biomass. 

Moreover, the potential of ethanol to be further converted 

to hydrogen makes it a very attractive alternative to 

replace or complement fossil fuels as sources of energy. 

Argentina has recently enacted legislation to promote 

the use of bio-fuels to ameliorate its ever increasing 

annual gasoline demand, currently approaching 4 billion 

liters. This new legislation (Ley 26.093 de Promoción 

de Biocombustibles) would result in a demand of over 

200 million liters of dehydrated alcohol. Though many 

techniques for ethanol dehydration are known; adsorption, 

distillation, hybrid processes, and pervaporation, are the 

most common technologies in practice. Two alternative 

ethanol dehydration technologies are considered in this 

work. The first is based on the combination of distillation 

and azeotropic distillation, while the second relies on 

hybrid distillation and pervaporation processes. An Aspen 

Plus pervaporation module is first developed and both 

alternatives are simulated and their optimal design and 

operating parameters are identified by means of rigorous 

simulation (Aspen Plus). The developed module was tested 

against experimental data and was able to replicate the 

results with a 98% confidence interval. The module was 

then used to study various separation train schemes 

producing anhydrous ethanol and a hybrid Pervaporation- 

Distillation scheme was found to be the most energy 

efficient while recovering 92% of the alcohol fed. 

Poster Board No. 041 CHARACTERIzATION OF THIN FILM 

DEPOSITION PROCESSES. Charles F Tillie, c.f.tillie1@gmail. 

com, Scott A Hug, s.a.hug@csuohio.edu, Andrew J Snell, 

a.j.snell@csuohio.edu, Jorge E Gatica, j.gatica@csuohio.edu, 

1590 Wood Road, Cleveland Heights OH 44121 

For many years, chromate-based coating processes have 

been used by industry to generate protective coatings 

on metallic surfaces to ensure the success of subsequent 

applications. These processes pose a threat to the 

environment and have been subject to strict regulations 

under the Clean Water Act. The purpose of this project 

is developing a practical alternative using tert-butylated 

triphenyl phosphate (TBTPP) to generate films on an 

aluminum substrate via chemical vapor deposition. This 

research focuses on characterizing the deposition reaction. 

It is hypothesized that the reaction can be modeled using 

power law kinetics of the form , where r s is the reaction 

rate, k(T) is the temperature dependent reaction rate 

constant, C s is the surface concentration of TBTPP, and n


Vol. 112(1) 

is the order of reaction. A differential scanning calorimeter 

superheats a sample of TBTPP inside a sealed aluminum 

pan, vaporizing it and creating a coating inside the pan. 

Analysis of the results is performed to determine how well 

this reaction fits the proposed model. 

Poster Board No. 042 SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIzATION 

OF PHASE SELECTIVE GELATORS USED TO SOLIDIFY OIL 

SPILLS. Jessica R. Ringlein, Jessica.Ringlein@students. 

lourdes.edu, (Barbara Stallman, Barbara.Stallman@Lourdes. 

edu), 3030 E. Lincolnshire, Toledo OH 43606. 

The Gulf Oil Spill in the summer of 2010 raised awareness 

to the problems associated with removing oil from the 

waters without harming the environment. There are 

several means to remediate oil spills: burn the oil at the 

surface of the water, add chemical dispersants, apply solid 

sorbents that adsorb the oil, and use gelators that solidify 

the oil. The goal of this project is to synthesize, purify, 

plus examine the limitations and characteristics of phase 

selective gelators (PSGs). Other laboratories have been 

successful in synthesizing PSGs from naturally occurring 

sugar alcohols and fatty acid esters (e.g. vinyl butanoate 

and vinyl octanoate) to make dialkanoate derivatives of 

sugar alcohols. The PSGs synthesized from vinyl octanoate 

produced the best results by absorbing a greater variety 

of organic liquids and displaying lower minimum gelation 

concentrations. The hypothesis of this project is that PSGs 

synthesized from D-mannitol and vinyl decanoate and vinyl 

dodecanoate using Lipase B from Candida antartica as a 

catalyst will achieve greater gelation of organic solvents 

at lower concentrations due to their long carbon chains. 

Two new PSGs have been synthesized and characterized 

by thin layer chromatography, melting point, and infrared 

spectrometry. Further research is being performed to 

analyze the structures by nuclear magnetic resonance 

spectrometry (H-NMR) and mass spectrometry. Once the 

PSGs are characterized, minimum concentration gelation 

studies will be run using a 1:1 ratio of water/oil mixtures 

with 25 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg PSG samples before 

reenacting an oil spill scenario in a multi-gallon apparatus. 

Poster Board No. 043 THE ABILITY OF A COMMERCIAL FILTER 

TO REMOVE LEAD FROM ALKALINE WATER. Bradley M. Altier 

(Jacob White); bradleyaltier@yahoo.com; MSC 976 University 

of Rio Grande, P.O. Box 500, Rio Grande, OH 45674 

Although well water has been a staple in Appalachian 

culture, studies have shown the potential for heavy metal 

contamination of well water in this region. Inexpensive 

carbon-based filters are commonly used to remove these 

metals from the water to make it safer for consumption. 

Experiments testing the ability of such filters to remove 

lead from acidic water have shown that acidity actually 

improves a carbon filter’s ability to remove lead. However, 

research is lacking which describes any correlation 

between a filter’s ability to remove lead and the alkalinity 

of the water. Because geologic conditions in the region can 

produce alkaline well water, such a study is warranted. 

The objective of this experiment is to determine if 

alkalinity influences the ability of a commercial drinking 

water filter to remove lead. A Perkin-Elmer Analyst 600 

Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AA) will be used to 

quantify lead in water before and after filtration. Standard 

lead solutions in de-ionized water will be prepared with 

varying levels of alkalinity and analyzed before and after 

filtration. In addition, studies using well water collected 

from Southeastern Ohio will be analyzed to determine any 

correlation between filtration ability and alkalinity. 

Poster Board No. 044 DETERMINATION OF CALORIC CONTENT 

OF ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS VIA BOMB CALORIMETRY Andrea 

D Merry (Tim Hall) s300615892@students.rio.edu University 

of Rio Grande 2421 Centerpoint Rd, Oak Hill OH, 45656 

Calorimetry is the study of heat transfer during physical and 

chemical process. Calorimetry is traditionally incorporated 

within an undergraduate chemistry program in a freshman 

level chemistry course where the students typically work 

with a styrofoam-cup calorimeter to measure the energy 

transferred as heat. It is then traditionally studied further 

in an upper-level physical chemistry course where the 

students learn of an alternative device to measure the 

change in enthalpy, the adiabatic or constant volume bomb 

calorimeter. The purpose of this project is to determine 

the caloric content of artificial sweeteners via bomb 

calorimetry. The general procedure will be to use a Parr 

oxygen bomb calorimeter to determine the energy content 

of a number of artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, 

saccharin, aspartame, and steviol. Because the body does 

not metabolize these sweeteners, they are advertised as 

“zero calorie.” This may create a misconception that there 

is also zero enthalpy content based on bond energies. A 

literature search indicates that the determination of the 

caloric content of artificial sweeteners via bomb calorimetry 

has not been reported. A statistical analysis of the results 

will be performed comparing theoretical and experimental 

values of the thermodynamic data, where the theoretical 

data will be determined using estimated bond energies 

using the molecular structure of each sweetener. 

Poster Board No. 045 PH EFFECTS ON THE RATE CONSTANT 

FOR THE REACTION OF Mb-CO WITH O 2 . Sheri L. Marcum, 

s347085@students.rio.edu, (John Means, jmeans@rio.edu), 

University of Rio Grande, 19704 State Route 160, Vinton OH 

45686. 

Strict control of blood pH is necessary for vertebrate 

survival. Protein function and oxygen (O 2 ) binding rely 

heavily on such restrictions. Myoglobin (Mb), a small 

protein that is important for O 2 transport in vertebrates, 

reversibly binds molecular oxygen. Myoglobin not only 

binds to O 2 , but it binds other molecules with greater 

affinity such as carbon monoxide (CO), which has a 60 

times greater affinity for myoglobin than O 2 . The objective 

of this analysis is to demonstrate both qualitatively and 

quantitatively the effects of pH on the O 2 displacement 

of CO from Mb. A recent literature search revealed that 

no such study had to date been conducted utilizing UV- 

VIS spectrophotometry. This analysis would further 

facilitate the understanding of pH effects on proteins and 

myoglobin’s binding affinity of O 2 at various pH levels. The 

hypothesis is that, as the pH is adjusted beyond the optimal 

range of 7.2-7.4, the rate of O 2 exchange with Mb-CO will 

increase with increasing pH due to the Bohr Effect. Due 

to myoglobin’s increased affinity for CO, the rate of the 

exchange reaction with O 2 will be slow enough to measure 

utilizing UV-VIS spectrophotometry over a pH range of 

5.0-8.0. First-order rate constants will be determined at 

several pH values, and these rate constants will be plotted 

against pH to determine if a correlation exists. 

Poster Board No. 046 CHARACTERIzATION OF 

THE TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT NATURE OF THE 

PHOTOCATALYTIC DECOMPOSITION OF CONGO RED USING 

zINC OXIDE. Whitney C. Smith, s300621532@students.rio. 

edu, (Jacob White, jwhite@rio.edu), University of Rio Grande, 

3501 Factory Road Albany, Ohio 45710. 

Weak regulation of the disposal of wastes from chemical 

manufacturing has led to widespread environmental 

damage. The unregulated disposal of textile dyes, such 

as Congo Red, has created a challenge for environmental 

chemists to determine effective, inexpensive treatment 

processes for remediating contaminated water. One such 

approach is the photocatalytic degradation of dyes using 

semiconducting materials. Fine suspensions of suitable 

semiconductors are added to waste waters and irradiated at 

wavelengths less than 380 nm, causing electron excitation 

within the semiconductors from the valence band to the 

conduction band. A series of subsequent electron transfer 

steps then ultimately lead to the degradation of the dye. 

Several studies have demonstrated the ability of zinc oxide 

to remediate water contaminated with Congo Red through 

this photocatalytic process, and that this process is pHdependent 

and concentration-dependent. Properties, such

Vol. 112(1) 

as the electric conductivity, of semiconductor systems have 

been shown to be termperature-dependent. However, no 

such studies have reported any temperature-dependent 

characteristics of the photocatalytic degradation. The 

objective of this study is to characterize any temperaturedependencies 

of the photocatalytic degradation of Congo 

Red using zinc oxide. Utilizing a Shimadzu UV-VIS 

2550, the study will measure the absorbance maximum of 

Congo Red (498 nm) solutions over time. These solutions 

will be irradiated at wavelengths less than 380 nm with 

and without the presence of the semiconductor. The 

temperature of these experiments will be systematically 

varied and controlled to determine any temperaturedependent 

characteristics of the mechanism. 

Poster Board No. 047 SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF SHED SNAKE 

SKINS TO INDENTIFY POTENTIAL ANTI-SHEARING AGENTS 

FOR PREVENTION TREATMENT OF BURN PATIENTS. Kimberly 

Klosz (kklosz09@students.ndc.edu) Notre Dame College, 

4545 College Rd., South Euclid, OH 44121; (Alan T. Riga; John 

J. Moran) 

Over 25,000 patients annually are admitted into specialized 

burn care facilities. There is an immediate need to identify 

potential anti-shearing agents to ease their suffering and 

help the healing process of patients with severe burns. It 

is hypothesized that anti-shearing agents can be extracted 

and recovered from a variety of shed snake skins. It is 

further hypothesized that these recovered agents can be 

used to help heal burned skin, plus to prevent and treat 

bed sores in long-term care patients. Shed snake skins 

contain a dispersant chemical or softening agent that can 

be extracted with acetone or a similar polar solvent blend. 

The physical properties of the shed skins upon solvent 

extraction change dramatically, with a hardening of the 

skin and an increase in glass transition temperature (T g ). 

Variables include changing the nature of the extracting 

solvent, extraction time, agitation, and the shed skins 

from several snake species. The extracted chemicals 

will be analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy and compared to 

confirm the relationship of the softening agents to the 

parent snake skin. Unprocessed skins will be further 

tested by Thermogravimetric Analysis to measure the 

mass loss from the shed skins as a function of temperature 

from (25-140 o C). The physical properties of the skins will 

be monitored by Differential Scanning Calorimetry to 

determine the endothermic peak processes. The T g will 

be verified by Thermomechanical Analysis. Individual 

components of extracts will further be isolated and analyzed 

using LC-MS. The extracts will be qualitatively 

identified and any structure-property relationships will be 

established. 

Poster Board No. 048 NEWLY ADVANCED MECHANICAL 

ANALYzER DEFINES FORMULATED DRUG DISINTEGRATION 

PROPERTIES AND DELIVERY: MOUTH, STOMACH, OR 

INTESTINES Nethrie D. Idippily, nidippily09@students.ndc. 

edu, (Alan T. Riga, alanriga@hotmail.com), (John Moran, 

jmoran@ndc.edu), Notre Dame College, 4545 College Rd., 

South Euclid, OH 44121. 

Formulated drug disintegration profiles can predict the site 

of disintegration (mouth, stomach, or intestines), but there 

is currently a fundamental lack of detailed information 

regarding the characterization of disintegration patterns 

of fully formulated pharmaceutical drugs, active 

ingredients, and excipients. Novel analytical methods are 

needed to bridge this informational gap, providing more 

detailed information regarding drug disintegration profiles 

as a function of time. It was hypothesized that Thermal 

Mechanical Analysis (TMA) can been used to provide more 

detailed information regarding the relative disintegration 

time for solid dose tablets, and to test formulated 

drug compactness, binding strength, and excipient 

effectiveness. Furthermore, measuring the disintegration 

rate (micrometers/min) by TMA can be a valuable tool 

in drug development, where specific drug disintegration 

times, release rates, and delivery of active ingredient 


over time can be measured. In this study, TMA is used to 

measure the effect of temperature and pH on drug delivery. 

Commercially formulated tablets will be evaluated at 

physiologically relevant pH and temperature levels, and 

with selected excipients. Olanzapine (Zyprexa®), an orally 

disintegrating drug, is contrasted with Terazosin HCl 

(Hytrin®), and Aripiprazole (Abilify®), which are designed 

for uptake in the stomach and intestines, respectively. 

Experimental design of two variables at up to three levels 

(or 9 possible variations) with N = 3 trials each will assist 

in defining a statistically valid protocol. This study will 

determine which variables are significant and establish 

repeatability and reproducibility. Based on these results a 

new TMA test method for drug disintegration profiles will 

be developed. 


Poster Board No. 049 CORRELATIONS BETWEEN SOLVENT 

PHYSICAL CONSTANTS, ORGANIC SOLUTE MOLECULAR 

STRUCTURE AND RETENTION FACTOR IN THIN-LAYER 

CHROMATOGRAPHY. Joey E. Romar, joeyromar@walsh.edu, 

(Michael J. Dunphy, mdunphy@walsh.edu) Walsh University, 

2020 East Maple St., N. Canton, Ohio 44720. 

Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) is a simple and versatile 

method used to separate and identify the components of 

a mixture. TLC is an ideal tool to introduce high school 

and college students to principles of chromatography and 

effects of inter-molecular forces in separation chemistry. 

The goal of this project was to develop a TLC lab experience 

suitable for first year college chemistry labs, focusing on 

structure-activity relationships (SAR). The hypothesis of 

this work is that identifiable trends might exist between 

solvent properties (dielectric constants, dipole moments 

and structure) and TLC retention factors (R f ) for selected 

phenols. Analyses were done using commercial silica 

gel TLC plates (250 mm coating, cut to 8 x 3 cm), spotting 

capillaries, a hot air source, long wave UV lamp and readily 

available chemicals/standards and lab equipment. Results to date 

indicate that structurally related phenols exhibit linear R f values 

relative to solvent dielectric constant and dipole moment 

for methanol, acetone, dichloromethane, and acetonitrile. 

Other solvents including ethyl acetate, isobutyl alcohol, 

methyl tert-butyl ether, 2-butanol, 2-methoxyethyl 

acetate, and THF did not show this behavior. Phenol Rfs 

were also linear with temperature for any given solvent. In 

conclusion, and following further scrutiny, trends observed 

may serve as good teaching tools for presenting underlying 

principles of chromatography and SAR. 

Poster Board No. 050 SEPARATION AND QUANTITATION 

OF NITROSYLCOBALAMIN BY HIGH PRESSURE LIQUID 

CHROMATOGRAPHY. Kristie N. Griffith (kristiegriffith@ 

walsh.edu • P.O. Box 399 • Walsh University • 2020 E. Maple 

St. • N. Canton, Ohio 44720), (Michael J. Dunphy) (mdunphy@ 

walsh.edu) and Joseph A. Bauer (jbauer@uakron.edu), Bauer 

Research Foundation. 

Cobalamins are biologically active molecules with hydroxo-, 

methyl-, adenosyl- and cyanocobalamins being well known 

examples. Recently, nitrosylcobalamin (NOCBL) has been 

identified as an exogenous source of nitric oxide in vivo and 

as a potential anti-tumor agent. NOCBL is synthesized 

by a ligand exchange reaction between hydroxocobalamin 

and nitric oxide gas in dichloromethane. The need 

exists for a quantitative NOCBL procedure to monitor 

synthesis kinetics in the analysis of biological samples. 

A quantitative HPLC procedure for NOCBL analysis has 

been developed. The method uses a modified reversedphase 

column and gradient elution at 35 o C with an acetic 

acid/methanol mobile phase. NOCBL elutes within 15 

minutes in this system and there is nearly complete 

separation from hydroxocobalamin and cyanocobalamin. 

The method was validated by carrying out within and 

between-day analyses on 50 and 100 µg/mL methanolic 

standards (%CV: 3.4 and 2.6 respectively) and establishing 

concentration dependent linearity for peak areas (slope


Vol. 112(1) 

0.0085, R 2 =0.9932) with a detection limit of 10 µg/mL. 

A solid phase extraction (C-18) procedure has been in 

development where elution of NOCBL from plasma 

samples occurs. The resulting compound is in a solubilized 

form that can be directly injected into the HPLC. Current 

work is focused on optimizing the solid phase extraction 

system to increase percent recovery and to determine a 

suitable internal standard for extraction and quantitation. 

Poster Board No. 051 HUMAN FORESKIN FIBROBLASTS 

AND THEIR CELLULAR RESPONSE TO HEAVY METALS SUCH 

AS THALLIUM AND BARIUM David S. Liu davidliu@walsh. 

edu, Joseph A. Lupica, jlupica@walsh.edu, Joseph A. Bauer 

jbauer@noat.com, Amy J. Heston aheston@walsh.edu, Walsh 

University, 2020 East Maple Street, North Canton, OH 44720 

Heavy metals such as barium and thallium are toxic. 

The effects of heavy metal compounds on normal Human 

Foreskin Fibroblasts (HFF) have been investigated. 

Potassium and sodium ions enter the cell via a specialized 

transmembrane receptor. Heavy metal ions with similar 

atomic radii to K + are predicted to enter the cell through 

the same Na + /K + pump. The heavy metals ions, thallium 

(Tl + ) and barium (Ba 2+ ), have approximately the same ionic 

radii as K + . It is hypothesized that these ions may also enter 

the cell through this pump. Once inside the HFF cell, Tl + 

binds to riboflavin, potentially interfering with oxidative 

phosphorylation. The disruption of oxidative phosphorylation 

is predicted to result in mitochondrial membrane dysfunction, 

the release of Cytochrome C, and the activation of the 

intrinsic apoptotic pathway. HFF cells were treated with 

various concentrations of the aqueous heavy metal salts, 

Thallium acetate (TlCH 3 COO) and Thallium nitrate (TlNO 3 ), 

at concentrations from 1- 100 µM. A Sulforhodomine B (SRB) 

assay monitored overall cytotoxicity. The results indicated 

that cell death generally occurs at concentrations of 100 

µM for both TlCH 3 COO and TlNO 3 . Studies with Ba(NO 3 ) 2 

exhibited similar cellular growth inhibition. However, little 

or no antiproliferative effects were observed at 1 µM of 

either heavy metal, suggesting HFF cells are able to tolerate 

minimal concentrations of thallium and barium. 

Poster Board No. 052 ANTIPROLIFERATIVE EFFECTS OF 

THALLIUM COMPOUNDS ON MCF-7 CELLS Lucille E. zappitelli, 

lucillezappitelli@walsh.edu, Joseph A. Lupica, jlupica@walsh. 

edu, Joseph A. Bauer, jbauer@bnoat.com, Amy J. Heston, 

aheston@walsh.edu, Walsh University, 2020 East Maple 

Street, North Canton, OH 44720 

Thallium, a heavy metal, has been found to be a toxin in 

both chemical and forensic sciences. This work investigated 

the effects of thallium salts on the human adenocarcinoma 

cell line MCF-7. MCF-7 cells are the most widely studied 

estrogen dependent cell line in breast cancer research. 

Thallium and potassium possess very similar atomic 

radii, resulting in the ability of Tl + to easily enter the cell 

via the Na + /K + pump. Once inside the cell, Tl + binds to 

riboflavin and could potentially interfere with oxidative 

phosphorylation, causing disruption of the mitochondrial 

membrane potential. This disruption is predicted to result 

in mitochondrial membrane dysfunction and the release of 

Cytochrome C, an early initiating step of the intrinsic apoptotic 

pathway. Apoptosis is otherwise known as programmed 

cell death. In separate experiments, MCF-7 cells were 

treated with concentrations of 1-100 µM of Thallium acetate 

(TlCH 3 COO) and Thallium nitrate (TlNO 3 ). Cytotoxicity was 

monitored utilizing a Sulforhodomine B (SRB) assay. The 

assay demonstrated cell death began to occur at 2 µM and 75 

µM of TlCH 3 COO and TlNO 3 respectively. Growth inhibition 

was observed in TlCH 3 COO at 1 µM, however, further testing 

using 0.05 µM-1.0 µM TlCH 3 COO indicated no cell death 

occurred. This demonstrated the antiproliferative effects of 

thallium, on MCF-7 cells, in vitro. 

Poster Board No. 053 CELLULAR APOPTOSIS OF MALIGNANT 

MELANOMA CELLS UTILIzING THALLIUM ACETATE AND 

THALLIUM NITRATE Christine N. Stenger christinestenger@ 

walsh.edu, Amy J. Heston aheston@walsh.edu, Joseph A. 

Bauer jbauer@bnoat.com, Joseph A. Lupica, jlupica@walsh. 

edu Walsh University, 2020 East Maple Street, North Canton, 

OH 44720 

Compounds containing heavy metals, such as thallium, 

are toxic to living systems. This project investigates the 

effects of thallium compounds on the malignant melanoma 

cell line, A375. Heavy metal ions of similar atomic radii 

to K + , such as Tl + , may enter the cell through the Na + /K + 

pump. When thallium enters the cell, it binds to riboflavin, 

adversely affecting the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. 

The subsequent disruption of this pathway may result in 

cell death due to mitochondrial dysfunction, release of 

Cytochrome C, and initiation of the intrinsic apoptotic 

pathway. The A375 cells were treated with various concentrations 

of aqueous thallium salts, thallium acetate (TlCH 3 COO) and 

thallium nitrate (TlNO 3 ). The cells were treated with measured 

concentrations of the salts that varied from 1-100 µM. Cytotoxicity 

was monitored utilizing the Sulforhodomine B (SRB) assay. 

Growth inhibition was not observed at 1 µM and, therefore, 

studies using lesser concentrations were not warranted. Antiproliferative 

effects of these thallium compounds were evidenced 

through this assay and indicated cell death at concentrations of 

75 µM TlNO 3 and 100 µM TlCH 3 COO. The SRB assay indicates 

that the A375 cell line is able to tolerate thallium toxicity at 1 µM 

TlNO 3 for 118 hours and 5 µM TlCH 3 COO for 114 hours. 

Poster Board No. 054 SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIzATION 

OF METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS FROM AROMATIC 

CARBOXYLATES Paul Szalay a , Seth Barrett a , Matthias zeller b 

a Department of Chemistry, Muskingum University, New 

Concord, OH 43762 pszalay@muskingum.edu b Department 

of Chemistry, Youngstown State University. 

The synthesis of novel metal-organic frameworks 

(MOF’s) was investigated via simple room temperature 

solution methods, solvothermal approaches, and 

microwave techniques. Reaction products consisted of 

1,1’-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid, 2-fluoroterephthalic acid, 

and terephthalic acid linkers with zinc, cobalt, copper, 

chromium, silver, and aluminum metal ions. Products 

were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (IR), 

powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and single crystal X-ray 

diffraction. The 1,1’-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid reaction 

products exhibited two colors, red-brown and yellow-gold, 

based upon reaction conditions. IR and PXRD confirmed 

that the products were not isostructural. Single crystals for 

the mixed linker reaction containing 2-fluoroterephthalic 

acid and terephthalic acid with Zn(II) exhibited the 

monoclinic C2 space group. In solution prior to reaction, 

the 2-fluoroterephthalic acid linker encompassed 38% 

of the linkers in the reaction. After the reaction, the 

2-fluoroterephthalic acid linker encompassed 41% of the 

linkers in the crystalline product. Single crystals for the 

2-fluoroterephthalic acid reaction with Zn(II) were also 

found to be monoclinic with a C2 space group. The unit 

cell data for both crystals was similar, with cell dimensions 

of 10.884(4), 16.423(6), 7.468(3), and 10.859(4), 16.133(5), 

7.612(3) Å respectively. Cell volumes were found to be 

1215.5 and 1223.78 Å 3 respectively. 

Poster Board No. 055 LIMNOLOGY OF CRYSTAL LAKE 

AND BOATING LAKE AT THE MUSKINGUM VALLEY SCOUT 

RESERVATION LOCATED ON RECLAIMED MINING LAND IN 

COSHOCTON COUNTY, OHIO. zachery T. Beres, zacheryberes@ 

walsh.edu, (Curtis C. Clevinger, cclevinger@walsh.edu 

and Jennifer A. Clevinger, jclevinger@walsh.edu), Walsh 

University, 2020 East Maple St. NE, North Canton OH 44720. 

Improved understanding of aquatic ecosystem dynamics 

can lead to improved management techniques. Boating 

Lake and Crystal Lake, on the Muskingum Valley 

Scout Reservation in Coshocton County, Ohio, are both 

manmade lakes built upon reclaimed strip mining land. 

Boating Lake was formed through the damming of a 

natural stream while Crystal Lake formed in a pit from the 

land’s previous mining use. The lack of Scout Reservation

Vol. 112(1) 

baseline data on these lakes provides the opportunity to be 

the first to analyze what is occurring in the water columns. 

Aquatic tests and measurements over a seven week 

period from June to July 2011 including dissolved oxygen 

levels, Secchi depth, temperature, pH, and chlorophyll 

concentration were performed three times a week while 

biological oxygen demand, limiting nutrients, and nutrient 

levels, such as nitrate, SRP, ammonia, DOC, and DN, were 

performed once every week. Initial observations from data 

collected indicate Boating Lake is a eutrophic lake while 

Crystal Lake is an oligotrophic lake. Boating Lake was 

slightly basic (≈8.5 on average) and exhibited stratification 

resulting in a thermocline and supports a wide variety of 

aquatic life based on daily fishing observations. Crystal 

Lake exhibited low pH (≈3.0 on average), low nutrient 

content, and supports very little aquatic life based on 

limited observations of wildlife interactions with the 

water. Once data analysis is completed, this information 

will be used by the Scout Reservation to develop a better 

plan to maintain its aquatic ecosystems and will serve as 

the foundation for future research on these lakes. 

Poster Board No. 056 EVALUATION OF BIOSAND FILTER 

MODIFIED WITH zERO VALENT IRON DISINFECTION LAYER 

FOR HOUSEHOLD TREATMENT OF DRINKING WATER. Ajmeeta 

Sangtani, axs882@case.edu, Emma Cotter, emma.cotter@ 

case.edu, (Banu Sizirici Yildiz, bsy3@case.edu), Case Western 

Reserve University, Civil Engineering Department, Bingham 

Building #216, 2104 Adelbert Road, Cleveland OH 44106- 

7201. 

Current estimates indicate that nearly one billion people 

worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. Point-ofuse 

(POU) drinking water treatment technology enables 

those people who have not access to safe drinking water 

to treat their water at home and to improve the water 

quality. Among the different POU technologies, biosand 

filters (BSF) has been used widely in developing countries 

as an efficient, inexpensive, and appropriate technology for 

removing microbial hazards in drinking water. Metallic 

oxides are good sorbents of microorganisms and turbidity. 

For the past decades zero valent iron (ZVI) has been used for 

groundwater remediation. ZVI/ metallic iron is universally 

available. The objective of this project is to evaluate the 

pathogen reduction potential of modified BSF with (ZVI) 

disinfectant layer, to determine whether additional 

disinfection is enabled with ZVI. The conventional BSF 

(control) was designed with layers of stone, pea gravel, 

coarse sand and fine sand. The modified BSF was designed 

in the same manner with ZVI disinfection layer between 

fine sands. The filters were run intermittently twice a 

day with 4 liters of water collected from the Doan Brook 

in Cleveland, OH. Filters were run for 78 days. Water 

samples were collected from each filter and tested for 

flow rate, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, total and fecal 

coliform test. Test results showed that 90.4 % reduction in 

total coliform, 92 % reduction in fecal coliform and 88.5% 

reduction in turbidity for conventional BSF and the 96.6 

% reduction in total coliform, 99.9% reduction in fecal 

coliform, and 91.3 % reduction in turbidity for modified 

BSF. Compared to the BSF, the MBSF with ZVI performed 

better by reducing more turbidity, fecal chloroform and 

total coliform counts. This study demonstrated ZVI’s 

effectiveness in BSF providing potable drinking water. The 

results are encouraging and supporting the use of a MBSF 

over a BSF. 

Poster Board No. 057 TWO NEW INVASIVE, EXOTIC INSECTS 

IDENTIFIED IN OHIO IN 2011. Curtis E. Young, young.2@cfaes. 

osu.edu, Amy K. Stone, stone.91@cfaes.osu.edu, Joseph 

Boggs, boggs.47@osu.edu, Cynthia M. Meyer, meyer.842@ 

cfaes.osu.edu, and Kathy Smith, smith.81@osu.edu, Ohio 

State University Extension, Van Wert County, 1055 South 

Washington Street, Van Wert OH 45891. 

Two very dissimilar, invasive, exotic insects were 

discovered in Ohio in 2011. An actively growing infestation 

of Anoplophora glabripennis, Asian longhorned beetle 


(ALB), a hardwood tree threat, was identified in June 

2011 near Bethel, Ohio. In September 2011, an infestation 

of Drosophila suzukii, spotted wing drosophila (SWD), a 

soft-skinned fruit pest, was uncovered near Ohio City, 

Ohio. These dissimilar types of insects, a beetle and fly, 

share four important similarities: 1) an Asian origin; 2) 

an unknown route to their end-point infestations in Ohio; 

3) their presence in Ohio was brought to the attention 

of authorities by observant members of the public; and 

4) both are major threats to Ohio’s economy and ecology 

through destruction of host crops. Eradication efforts are 

being employed to stop the spread of ALB. More than 

4,900 infested trees are being destroyed during the winter 

and spring of 2011-2012 to remove the ALB population. 

Until full eradication occurs, survey, regulatory activities 

and public outreach will continue. Management of SWD 

involves monitoring with traps and applying insecticide 

treatments to susceptible fruit crops when justified. Ohio 

State University Extension is leading the educational 

outreach effort to inform Ohioans of these threats to Ohio’s 

natural resources and economy. 

Poster Board No. 058 A COMPARISON OF RED-BACKED 

SALAMANDERS (PLETHODON CINEREUS) IN FOUR 

POPULATIONS ACROSS OHIO: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN THE 

LEAD-BACKED AND RED-BACKED PHASES? Eden A. Dulka, 

dulkae@findlay. edu, and Jessica A. Wooten, Ph. D. wooten@ 

findlay. edu, The University of Findlay Department of Natural 

Sciences, 1000 N. Main St., Findlay Ohio 45840. 

Plethodon cinereus (Red-backed Salamander) is a small 

woodland plethodontid salamander that is widely 

distributed throughout the northeastern United States 

and southeastern Canada. In Ohio, P. cinereus is known 

from 79 counties; the exceptions include the counties in 

eastern Ohio and the clay-rich plains. Two color morphs 

have been described, including a striped (red-backed) and 

a dark (i. e. , lead-backed); both of these were originally 

described as distinct species, but were later collapsed into 

the modern P.cinereus. The red-backed morph possesses 

a straight-edged reddish stripe, from the base of the head 

to the tail; whereas, the lead-backed morph is uniformly 

black with brassy flecks. It has been suggested that more 

than one pair of genes controls the epistatic color variation; 

however, little information is known about the behavior of 

the genes involved in this phenomenon. The main goals of 

this research are to: 1) find populations and collect tail-tips 

from lead- and red-backed morphs throughout northern 

Ohio where there is a documented high-prevalence of 

lead-backed morphs; 2) use population genetic techniques 

using quickly evolving genes to investigate any differences 

between individuals in the red- and lead-backed phases in 

four populations in northern Ohio; and 3) target the genes 

implicated in the lead-backed morph and compare findings 

between red-backed and lead-backed morphs for a total 

sample size of 43. Thus far, samples from four populations 

in northeast and northwest Ohio that contain both morphs 

have been collected. Currently, laboratory techniques 

and primers that will allow us to address the remaining 

objectives of this research are being developed. 

Poster Board 059 PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF THE BLACK- 

MOUNTAIN DUSKY SALAMANDER, DESMOGNATHUS WELTERI 

(CAUDATA: PLETHPDONTIDAE) WITH A COMPARISON 

WITH THE BLACK-BELLID SALAMANDER, DESMOGNATHUS 

QUADRAMACULATUS Caitlin Amiot (amiotc@findlay.edu), 

Alicia Oberhaus (oberhausa@findlay.edu), Jessica A. Wooten, 

Ph.D. (wooten@findlay.edu), Carlos D. Camp, Ph.D. (ccamp@ 

piedmont.edu; Piedmont College Demorest, GA), and zachary 

I. Felix, Ph.D. (zif@reinhardt.edu; Reinhardt University 

Waleska, GA) The University of Findlay Department of Natural 

Sciences 1000 N. Main St. Findlay, OH 45840. 

Phylogeography, morphology, and ecological niche 

modeling were combined to examine unique cryptic lineages 

and investigate factors that may limit the geographic 

distribution of the Black Mountain dusky salamander, 

Desmognathus welteri through out the known geographic


Vol. 112(1) 

range in the Cumberland Plateau and Mountains. 

Sequences totaling approximately 1200 base pairs for 

the 12S valine transfer and cytochrome oxidase I portion 

of the mitochondrial genome were analyzed to delimit 

evolutionary relationships within this group. Maximum 

likelihood was used to reconstruct the phylogeny, and 

revealed a large polytomy with no pylogenetic structure 

and low statistical support on the nodes. These finding 

suggest that a recent bottleneck or founder effect may have 

impacted D. welteri populations. There was no indication 

of distinguishable morphological characteristics detected 

among the individuals distributed across geography. 

Ecological niche modeling (i.e., current climate) showed 

that abiotic requirements of temperature and precipitation 

limit the geographic distribution of D. welteri. However, 

paleo-niche (i.e., 21K years ago) modeling combined with a 

maximum likelihood estimate of ancestral origin revealed 

that D. Welteri may have originated in eastern Kentucky 

and then experienced a range expansion into regions of 

Virginia, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The Black-bellied 

Salamander, Desmognathus quadramaculatus, was used 

for phylogenetic comparison; there are at least four times 

more mutation in D. quadramaculatus when compared 

to D. welteri. This suggests that D. quadramaculatus 

even though northern populations were largely without 

phylogenetic structure, has experienced stabile population 

structure in southern populations, but experienced a 

recent range expansion, yielding the current phylogenetic 

structure. 

Poster Board 060 THE SPECIES PROFILE OF LOTIC FISH 

COMMUNITIES AFFECTED BY LANDSCAPE LEVEL SURFACE 

MINING DEGRADATION. Jesse E. Hardval jhardval@ 

muskingum.edu, (James L. Dooley Jr. jdooley@muskingum. 

edu), Jenise Bauman jbauman@thewilds.org. Muskingum 

University, 163 Stormont St, New Concord OH 43762. 

Deforestation in riparian buffers has been shown to in 

crease stream temperature. Water temperature increases 

alter metabolism, growth rates, inter-specific competition, 

susceptibility to disease and mortality of aquatic organisms. 

Deforestation can also change species profiles by increasing 

nutrient levels leading to increased algal production and 

loss of oxygen. In an area that has been surface mined 

and a significant percentage of trees have been removed, 

elevated temperature can be a driver of changes to the fish 

diversity patterns. The goal of this research is to develop 

a species profile at several sites and streams within The 

Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio. The Wilds is an area that has 

experienced deforestation due to landscape level surface 

mining occurring over 25 years ago. The Wilds is now a 

wildlife conservation center containing over nine thousand 

acres of degraded land. There are several streams on the 

property, and species profiles for the streams have never 

been completed. Specimens will be collected from stream 

sites by use of seine nets. Physical stream characteristics 

such as temperature, upstream riparian length, left and 

right bank riparian width, and reach length have also been 

recorded. Twelve seinings have occurred at four different 

sites. Suitable sites were characterized by a run or pool 

immediately downstream from a moderate to fast ripple. 

One hundred and twenty four specimens have been netted, 

with eight species being identified and six hybrid sunfish 

specimens. Site 1with a mean temperature of 17.33 °C 

was dominated by minnow species (Cyprinidae), as was 

expected due to previous literature. All other sites were 

dominated by sunfish species particularly, green sunfish 

(Lepomis cyanellus) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), at 

average temperatures of 18.67 °C, 16.33 °C, and 17.67 °C 

respectively. 

Poster Board No. 061 VEGETATIVE RESPONSE TO 

ARCHEOLOGICAL DISTURABANCES IN A MIXED MESOPHYTIC 

FOREST IN EASTERN OHIO. Bethany J. Blakely, b-blakely.2@ 

onu.edu, Magda M. Molnar, m-molnar@onu.edu, Emily A. 

Nebgen, e-nebgan@onu.edu, (Robert G. Verb, r-verb@onu. 

edu). Department of Biological and Allied Health Sciences, 

Ada, OH 45817. 

Both anthropogenic and natural disturbances impact 

terrestrial plant communities. Often, these disturbance 

events lead to an increased rate of colonization by invasive 

plant species. Archeological investigations often yield 

insightful and beneficial information about the former 

inhabitants and cultures. However, the techniques 

employed in unearthing this information can disrupt and 

disturb a given habitat. This investigation examined the 

response of the herbaceous and woody plant communities 

to previous site disturbances in a mixed mesophytic woods 

in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. On September 9-10, 2011 a 

total of 62sites (31archaeologically disturbed, 21 naturally 

disturbed, 10 undisturbed) were analyzed. Point-centered 

quarter method sampling was employed to quantify the 

woody specimens in the vicinity of each site while a 1-m 2 

plot was used to evaluate the understory vegetation. 

Comparisons between sites impacted by the archeology digs 

will be contrasted to those less disturbed locales through 

the use of exploratory analyses (e.g., correspondence 

analysis) and ANOVAs. 

Poster Board No. 062 RHEOTACTIC BEHAVIOR OF GIANT 

DANIO, DEVARIO AEQUIPINNATUS, PERSISTS IN THE DARK. 

Rohan Bhimani rohanb@falcon.bgsu.edu, Joseph Coleman 

colemaj@falcon.bgsu.edu, Sheryl Coombs scoombs@falcon. 

bgsu.edu Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green 

State University, Bowling Green, OH 43402. 

Rheotaxis - orientation with respect to an on-going 

current - has many proposed benefits, including energetic 

costs savings and enhanced interception of downstream 

planktonic drift. At low flow speeds (< 1 body length 

(BL)/s), the flow-sensing lateral line is thought to play a 

dominant role in this behavior. At higher flow speeds (>~ 

1 BL/s), visual cues tend to dominate. Recent findings 

indicate that large schools (N>4) of giant danio exhibit 

enhanced rheotaxis compared to solitary fish. In this 

study, we investigate the sensory basis of this difference 

by testing solitary (N = 1) and grouped fish (N=8) at two 

flow speeds, one below and one above 1 BL/s, and in both 

light (vision enabled) and total darkness (vision disabled). 

Unlike solitary fish, which were randomly oriented, 

grouped fish exhibited positive rheotaxis (heading +/- 45 0 

of upstream for > 60% of total test time) in the light at 

both low (0.8 BL/s) and high (2.0 BL/s) flow speeds. Groupsize 

effects disappear in the dark, as both solitary and 

grouped fish exhibit similar levels of positive rheotaxis in 

the dark at both flow speeds. These results are consistent 

with the idea that when light is present, visual cues from 

neighboring schoolmates are important to the improved 

rheotactic performance of groups of fish, but that in the 

dark, the group-size effect fades as fish switch from visual 

to non-visual sensing modalities. 

Poster Board No. 063 USING THE zEBRAFISH (DANIO RERIO) 

TO EXAMINE GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION OF THE MOUSE 

SMALL HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN ALPHA B CRYSTALLIN. zachary 

Haley (zhaley@ashland.edu), Mason Posner (mposner@ 

ashland.edu). Ashland University, Department of Biology/ 

Toxicology, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, OH 44805. 

Alpha B crystallin is a ubiquitously expressed vertebrate 

small heat shock protein that prevents the stress-induced 

aggregation of other cellular proteins. Its expression 

increases in neurological disorders and numerous cancers. 

The alpha B crystallin gene is highly expressed in mouse 

lens as well as many other places throughout the body. 

Previous studies in zebrafish have shown that deletions of 

upstream promoter elements of the alpha B crystallin gene 

deceased expression in muscle and nervous tissue without 

affecting eye lens expression. These studies have begun 

to identify tissue specific enhancing regions in the alpha 

B crystallin promoter. The project hypothesized that 

injection of modified mouse alpha B crystallin promoter 

constructs could be used to drive green fluorescent protein 

(GFP) expression in embryonic zebrafish, providing a 

fast throughput model system for investigating promoter

Vol. 112(1) 

function. Mouse BAC clones were used to PCR amplify 

different lengths of the mouse alpha B crystallin promoter. 

These various promoter lengths (0.25, 0.8, 1.4, and 2 kb) 

were then ligated into the pAcGFP1-1 vector, transformed 

into competent E. coli cells and purified. Injection 

of plasmids containing the 0.25 and 1.4 kb promoter 

fragments into 1-cell zebrafish embryos produced mosaic 

GFP expression in skeletal muscle tissue. In addition, the 

1.4 kb promoter fragment produced weak GFP expression 

in the lens. Additional injections of these promoter/GFP 

constructs into zebrafish embryos will test the hypothesis 

that regulation of alpha B crystallin expression is similar 

between the mouse and zebrafish. 


Poster Board No. 064 MULTIPLE APPROACHES TO 

IDENTIFYING UNIQUE LINEAGE DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE 

OCMULGEE SLIMY SALAMANDER, PLETHODON OCMULGEE 

(CAUDATA: PLETHODONTIDAE). Katie Kelley (kelleyk@ 

findlay.edu), Ingrid Godfrey (godfreyi@findlay.edu), Carlos 

D. Camp, Ph.D. (Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia), and 

Jessica A. Wooten, Ph.D. (wooten@findlay.edu) The University 

of Findlay Department of Natural Sciences 1000 N. Main St. 

Findlay, Ohio 45840 

Plethodon ocmulgee (Ocmulgee Slimy Salamander) is a 

large slimy salamander in the Plethodontidae, which is 

the largest family of extant salamanders with over 350 

described species. Plethodon ocmulgee was described 

in 1989 using allozyme data, and currently has a small 

distribution that extends from the upper coastal plain 

and adjacent piedmont physiographic provinces of central 

Georgia associated with the Ocmulgee River drainage. 

Phylogeography and ecological niche modeling (current and 

paleo) was combined to examine unique cryptic lineages and 

to estimate the abiotic and biotic factors that may limit the 

geographic distribution of the P. ocmulgee throughout the 

known geographic range. Sequences totaling approximately 

1800 base pairs for the cytochrome b, 12S valine transfer, 

and NADH dehydrogenase 2 portions of the mitochondrial 

genome were analyzed to create a phylogenetic hypothesis 

to delimit evolutionary relationships within this group. 

Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods were used to 

reconstruct the phylogeny. Preliminary analyses revealed 

three unique clades partitioned by geologic age; the clade 

with the shortest branch length includes individuals 

from regions of the youngest geologic age. These findings 

correspond to the varied geologic history of the coastal 

plain in Georgia. Additional sampling is needed to tease 

out fine-scale population structure, and is taking place 

during the late fall / early winter 2011. Ecological niche 

modeling, using presence-only data, showed that abiotic 

requirements of temperature and precipitation limit the 

geographic distribution of P. ocmulgee. Further sampling 

and sequencing may reveal additional unique evolutionary 

lineages within this group. 

Poster Board No. 065 IDENTIFICATION OFCOMPLEX 

STRUCTURAL REARRANGEMENTS OF HUMAN 

CHROMOSOMES 5, 17 AND 19. John Roby, (robyj@findlay. 

edu); Jeremy Mascaro; (Michael Edelbrock, PhD), The 

University of Findlay, Mail Stop 1051, 1000 North Main St., 

Findlay OH 45840. 

Complex structural rearrangements of chromosomes are 

seldom compatible with life. Individuals with complex 

rearrangements are diagnosed at a young age. The extent 

of the phenotypic disorder is correlated to the specific 

translocations, the genes impacted, and whether or not 

the rearrangement is balanced. Fluorescence in-situ 

hibridization (FISH) results of an individual with partial 

trisomy of chromosome 5 were obtained from previous 

records. These results show that a portion of chromosome 

5 has been relocated to chromosome 19. Further, this 

part of chromosome 19 is fused to chromosome 17. FISH 

analysis is imprecise in the exact genetic sequence of 

the rearrangements. This study seeks to determine the 


sequence location of the rearrangements. Our hypothesis 

is that inverted repeat (IR) sequences might be involved 

and would be present at the areas indicated by the 

FISH analysis. DNA sequences, containing two million 

nucleotides, centered on chromosomes 5p13.1, 19p13.13 

and 17p13.2, were obtained from the National Center for 

Biotechnology Information (NCBI). A table was constructed 

using 200kb segments from each chromosome after 

conducting a BLAST alignment. Areas with the highest 

homology were obtained and further evaluated for the 

presence of IRs using predictive software. Results indicate 

that the same IR is present in each of the chromosomes 

investigated. Interestingly, this approach identified an 

intronic region between exons 20 and 21 of the Nipped-B 

homolog gene that is known to be transcribed during fetal 

development. Further characterization to verify that this 

IR was the site of the translocations is being conducted 

using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on DNA collected 

from the individual. 

Poster Board No. 066 MUTAGENIC EFFECTS OF CADMIUM 

ON MITOCHONDRIAL AND NUCLEAR DNA. Danielle Hoffman 

(hoffmand2@findlay.edu), Ashley Patton (pattona@ 

findlay.edu), Jamie Siesel (sieselj@findlay.edu), (Michael A. 

Edelbrock), The University of Findlay Department of Natural 

Sciences1000 N. Main Street Findlay, Ohio 45840 

Epidemiological studies show that cadmium is associated 

with cancer. Cadmium has been classified as a cocarcinogen, 

however the direct mechanism is not yet known. 

Recent evidence suggests that the combination of cadmium 

with oxidative stress may interfere with DNA damage 

repair processes, resulting in mutations. The hypothesis 

of this investigation is that cadmium, in combination with 

an oxidative agent, will induce mutations in the human 

mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Further, that the 

mutation frequencies between mitochondrial and nuclear 

genomes will differ. Human cell lines were grown in 

culture and treated with cadmium chloride (


Vol. 112(1) 

salamanders, turtles and fish, with a global distribution 

and reported outbreaks in several countries and in at least 

30 U.S. states. In frogs and salamanders, outbreaks are 

characterized by a rapid die-off, particularly of larva and 

recent metamorphs. Diagnosis requires amplification of 

the major capsid protein gene (~1500 base pairs) using 

polymerase chain reaction followed by sequencing and 

comparison to reference sequences in GenBank. Sudden 

die-offs of larval and metamorphosed American Bullfrogs 

(Lithobates catesbeianus) in a 1-ha man-made wetland in 

northwest Ohio, and of Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) 

in a reserve pond at North Chagrin Nature Center near 

Cleveland, Ohio were reported. Samples were taken from 

34 frogs and two turtles over the 26 September, the 11 and 

12 October and 4, 6, and 9 November 2011. Diagnosis of 

the FV3 strain from skin swabs, liver, and kidney biopsies 

confirmed 17 Ranavirus cases in American Bullfrogs, and 

one occurrence in an Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys 

picta picta) at the northwest Ohio site, and 12 cases (n = 

17) in both adults and larva at the Cleveland site. This is 

the first published account of amphibian die-offs caused by 

FV3, and the first reported Ranavirus infection of a turtle, 

in Ohio. 

Poster Board No. 068 THE EFFECTS OF CHLORPYRIFOS ON 

HIPPOCAMPAL GENE EXPRESSION IN MALE LONG-EVANS 

RATS AFTER MULTIPLE SUBCUTANEOUS EXPOSURES. 

Lynette Vana (lvana@ashland.edu), Mason Posner (mposner@ 

ashland.edu). Ashland University, Department of Biology/ 

Toxicology, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, OH 44805. 

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide that is used 

worldwide for crops and household purposes. It is sold under 

the trade names of Dursban and Lorsban. Chlorpyrifos 

functions as a cholinesterase inhibitor and is therefore 

a neurotoxin proposed to detrimentally affect organisms 

exposed to it. Organophosphates like chlorpyrifos have 

also been used as weapons in warfare because of their 

potent neurotoxicity to people; furthermore, detrimental 

developmental effects have been recorded for children 

who were exposed to this pesticide. Several studies 

have suggested a link between chlorpyrifos exposure 

and cognitive deficits, including effects on memory. A 

previous study found changes in the expression of over 

3,000 genes in the rat forebrain after a single dosing of 

chlorpyrifos at 2mg/kg. Only a small number of these 

changes in expression were subsequently confirmed by 

real-time PCR, the genes of focus were not included in this 

confirmation. The purpose of this present study was to 

confirm the upregulation of two genes, Rpl19 and Synj1, in 

a specific region of the rat brain, the hippocampus, to test 

the hypothesis that chlorpyrifos can cause gene regulatory 

changes in a region of brain related to memory. After 

animal dosing, hippocampal brain tissue samples were 

collected from the animals and preserved in RNAlater. 

RNA was then extracted from these hippocampus tissues 

for both control and dosed male Long Evans rats, and 

oligonucleotide primers were developed to amplify each 

gene. Reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction 

(RT-PCR) analysis of purified RNA will test the hypothesis 

that these two genes are greatly upregulated in the 

hippocampus after multiple subcutaneous exposures to 

chlorpyrifos. 

Poster Board No. 069 THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF THE 

VIOLACEIN PIGMENT AGAINST UV-C IRRADIATION IN 

CHROMOBACTERIUM VIOLACEUM. Andrew N. Abboud, 

andrew.abboud9@gmail.com, 748 Oak Lea Dr., Tipp City, 

OH 43571. (Tippecanoe High School and Central State 

University). 

Chromobacterium violaceum is a Gram-negative bacteria 

found in tropical regions. C. violaceum has the distinct 

phenotypic characteristic of a deep violet pigment called 

violacein. Violacein has a high molar extinction in 

methanol, suggesting that it is protective against visible 

light. The purpose of this study was to establish the 

protective effects of violacein against UV-induced cellular 

damage. It was hypothesized that violacein protects DNA 

and proteins (e.g. catalase) from UV-C induced damage. 

Wild-type (WT) C. violaceum was mutagenized with 

N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine to produce mutants 

with varying amounts of violacein. Mutants CV9, CV13, 

and CV14 (non-pigmented) produced less pigmentation than 

WT and retained colony morphology, while mutants H19, 

H20, and H21 (hyper-producers) over-expressed violacein 

but had an altered petite morphology. UV-induced DNA 

damage was assayed through sub-culture post-irradiation 

at 6,000μW*s -1 *cm -2 at λ=253.7nm. Sub-cultures of WT and 

hyper-producers showed reduced viability after 48 hours; 

nonpigmented mutants showed no growth, suggesting 

violacein is protective against UV-induced DNA damage. 

UV-induced catalase damage was assayed pre and post 

irradiation. According to the paired t-test at the 5% 

significance level (tvalue ±1.960), catalase activity in WT, 

H19, H20 and H21 significantly decreased post-irradiation 

and assumed the average negative t-values of 20.4058, 

-15.9284, -12.7082 and 11.1229, respectively; catalase 

activities of CV9, CV13 and CV14 significantly increased 

post-irradiation and assumed the average positive t-values 

of 16.2441, 27.0759 and 26.2194, respectively. Increased 

catalase activity in non-pigmented mutants can potentially 

be explained by the increased induction of catalase genes in 

response to elevated reactive oxidative species, presumably 

from lack of pigmentation. Taken together, these results 

support the hypothesis that violacein is protective against 

UV-induced cellular damage. 

Poster Board No. 070 COMPARISON OF AN 

IMMUNOCHROMATOGRAPHIC RAPID TEST, A MICROPLATE 

ENzYME IMMUNOASSAY AND TRADITIONAL CULTURE 

METHODS FOR DETECTION OF CAMPYLOBACTER SPP. IN 

OUTPATIENT STOOL SAMPLES Karen Kruzer, kak123@case. 

edu, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. 

Campylobacter spp. is a leading cause of bacterial 

gastroenteritis, affecting over 2.4 million persons 

annually. Campylobacteriosis infection is caused by 

consuming unpasteurized milk, contaminated food or 

water, or undercooked poultry. Food poisoning caused 

by Campylobacter spp. can be debilitating, resulting in 

diarrhea with varying severity from loose to bloody stools. 

An analytical review of recent publications suggests a 

problem with consistent detection of Campylobacter spp., 

therefore a comparison of antigen detection approaches 

versus culture methods needs to be conducted. The 

objectives were to compare antigen detection methods, 

to compare sensitivity for recovery of Campylobacter 

spp. using culture versus enzyme immunoassay, and 

to tabulate incidence of bacterial, parasitic, and viral 

pathogens. Three diagnostic methods were performed on 

100 stool samples collected from outpatients. ProSpecT 

EIA Test and ImmunoCard STAT! CAMPY® enzyme 

immunoassays detected Campylobacter spp. antigens. 

Traditional culture on Campylobacter spp. selective 

medium and filtration on blood agar was also performed. 

Campylobacter spp. is a seagull-shaped Gram negative 

bacilli, catalase positive, oxidase positive, hippurate 

positive, and motile. Disc diffusion susceptibility to 

nalidixic acid, cephalothin, and erythromycin further 

identified the species. Antigen detection tests recovered 7 

positives, whereas culture methods recovered 3 positives. 

The gold standard was two-fold. When culture served as 

reference, sensitivity/specificity were high (both >65%); 

ImmunoSTAT! positive predictive value was 28%. When 

positive EIA or culture served as reference, ImmunoSTAT! 

sensitivity decreased, but positive predictive value 

increased. The highest incidence of enteric pathogens was 

Campylobacter spp. and Clostridium difficile. Consistently 

reliable identification of Campylobacter spp. is crucial for 

diagnosis of the leading cause of enteritis globally. 

Poster Board No. 071 ADHESION TO AND INVASION OF 

EUKARYOTIC CELLS BY ISOLATED STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS 

ISOLATES. Darlene G. Walro 1 , dwalro@walsh.edu, Chris A.

Vol. 112(1) 

Grasse 2 , s12cgrasse@wittenberg.edu, 1 Walsh University, 

Dept. of Biology, 2020 East Maple St. North Canton OH 44720 

and 2 Wittenberg University, Dept. of Biology, Springfield 

OH45501. 

Staphylococcus aureus causes many bone and joint 

infections. The treatment of these infections is challenging 

due to the ability of the bacteria to invade and survive 

within the host tissue. Initially, the bacteria adhere to 

the host cell membrane by means of surface adhesins 

collectively referred to as microbial surface components 

recognizing adhesive matrix molecules (MSCRAMMS) 

which enable the bacteria to bind to collagen, fibronectin, 

and fibrinogen as well as other host tissue proteins. 

Previous work in the laboratory focused on the collagenbinding 

protein of several S. aureus isolates and the ability 

of the isolates to bind to collagen-coated plates. The purpose 

of this study was to determine whether or not S. aureus 

isolates were able to bind to fibronectin-coated plates 

using a colorimetric assay and to determine whether or 

not the bacteria were internalized by Vero cells using the 

gentamicin protection assay. S. aureus strain 25923 and 

S. epidermidis strain 1228 served as positive and negative 

controls respectively. Seven isolates were recovered on 

mannitol salt agar from the anterior nares of otherwise 

healthy humans (N = 57) and confirmed as being S. aureus 

by the catalase and coagulase assay. Two of the isolates, F 

and KS, were then measured for their ability to bind in a 

time-dependent fashion to fibronectin-coated plates using 

a colorimetric assay which measured optical density (O.D.) 

at 570 nm. The isolates showed greater ability to bind to 

fibronectin-coated plates (F, O.D. = 0.22.; KS, O.D. = 0.20) 

when compared to the negative control (O.D. = 0.05) but 

did not bind as strongly as the positive control (O.D. = 

0.75). Neither isolate appeared capable of invading Vero 

cells as determined by the gentamicin protection assay. 

Poster Board No. 072 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF 

SYNONYMOUS CODON USAGE BIAS IN LASSA FEVER VIRUS 

AND BETWEEN RELATED OLD WORLD ARENAVIRUSES. 

Jonathon Combs, combsj@findlay.edu, Matt Hoostal, 

hoostal@findlay.edu, University of Findlay, 1000 North Main 

Street, Findlay OH 45840 

Lassa fever virus (LFV) represents a considerable threat to 

public health in West Africa, as well as posing international 

concerns as a potential bioweapon. This study determined 

differences in the pattern of synonymous codon usage bias 

(SCUB) between LFV strains from Nigeria, Liberia, Serra 

Leone, Ghana, and Guinea, as well as differences between 

LFV and related Old World arenavirus (OWA) species. 

Studies of SCUB shed light on mutational constraints 

and factors effecting viral evolution not represented in 

phylogenetic studies. Whole genome sequences from 18 

strains of LFV and 8 related OWA were downloaded from 

GenBank, representing 66 LFV genes and 32 genes from 

related OWA. A comparative study was performed using 

correspondence analysis (COA) of relative synonymous 

codon usage values. First and second COA axes were 

plotted to facilitate the visualization of SCUB patterns. 

Quantitative measures of SCUB and compositional 

constraints were also determined using open-source codon 

analysis software. Analyses indicated that SCUB in LFV is 

affected by GC3s content, length of amino acid, geographic 

distance, and gene function. Differential usage bias was 

observed between genes of the LFV genome with the zincbinding 

protein gene demonstrating unique compositional 

constraints and higher usage bias relative to other genes 

within the LFV genome. It was also determined that LFV 

displayed similar patterns of SCUB as other members of the 

OWA complex. This information is important to determine 

key factors affecting inter-, as well as intragenomic usage 

bias, viral evolution, and diversity across spatial gradients. 

Poster Board No. 073 OCCURANCE AND PREVALENCE OF 

PARASITES IN A CANINE ENVIRONMENT: IS YOUR DOG AT 

RISK? Ryan Gibson (gibsonr@findlay.edu) and Jessica A. 


Wooten, Ph. D. (wooten@findlay.edu) The University of 

Findlay Department of Natrual Sciences 1000 N. Main St. 

Findlay, Ohio 45840. 

Ascrids, Ancylostoma, and Trichuris are three common 

nematodes found in the digestive system of canines and are 

spread through the fecal – oral route as the parasites shed 

their eggs in the hosts’ fecal matter. Dog parks in Hancock 

County are popular locations for pet owners to exercise and 

socialize their pets. It is the goal of this project to examine 

how many pets brought to the public park are a host for 

these parasitic nematodes. It is thought that a majority of 

pet owners take proper steps to insure proper health for their 

pets, but those who do not subject both their pets and other 

pets to these parasites and other diseases. The hypothesis of 

this experiment is that less than 10% of samples collected 

will contain one of the three nematodes. The eggs of these 

parasites are able to live in the environment for extended 

periods of time. In order to determine if host animals are 

being brought to Hancock County’s dog park fecal samples 

are collected from animals as they defecated. Samples are 

then run through a fecal flotation test. The fecal floatation 

test will lift any eggs in the fecal matter to the top, by mixing 

fecal matter with Zinc Sulfate and then centrifugation. 

By applying a microscope slide to the top of the test tube 

the eggs can then be viewed through a microscope. Of 140 

samples collected, 138 of them were negative, and 3 of 

them were positive for Ascrids. Positive results represented 

2.1% of sample. These results indicate that nematodes are 

being defecated and left on the premises. To prevent spread 

owners should be encouraged to practice prevention against 

nematodes when bringing their pets to the park. 

Poster Board No. 074 DIGESTIVE BREAKDOWN OF A FRUIT- 

BASED DIET IN THE YELLOW-BELLIED SLIDER TURTLE, 

TRACHEMYS SCRIPTA Heather M. Crather heather.crather@ 

otterbein.edu SMC 10554 1. S. Grove St Westerville, Oh 43081 

(Sarah Bouchard sbouchard@otterbein.edu) Department of 

Biology and Earth Science, Otterbein University 

Turtles are hind-gut fermenters, meaning the fibrous 

part of their diet is broken down in the large intestine by 

microbial symbionts. Panamanian slider turtles thrive on 

fruit diets, which are generally high in sugar and low in 

fiber. Horses, a mammalian hind-gut fermenter, can die 

on such diets because because high sugar levels increase 

fermentation rates such that gut pH drops and microbes 

die. Since turtles fair much better on fruit diets they are 

not expected to have such elevated fermentation rates and 

such drastic drops in pH. This could be due to a longer 

gut transit time in turtles which could allow sugars to be 

digested earlier in the digestive tract before they reach the 

large intestine for fermentation. The purpose of this study 

was to examine digesta as it moves through the digestive 

tract to understand how fiber and sugar concentrations 

change. Eight yellow-bellied slider turtles were fed a high 

sugar diet of plums, Prunus domestica, for a minimum of 

two weeks. Turtles were then euthanized and dissected 

to collect gut contents from four sections: stomach, 

anterior small intestine, posterior small intestine and 

large intestine. An Ankom 200 Fiber Analyzer will be used 

to determine concentration of fiber in the digesta, and a 

Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry instrument 

will be used to determine fermentation rates in hind gut 

digesta. The Phenol Sulphuric Acid method will be used 

to determine digesta sugar concentration. Analysis of 

each digestive tract section for pH, fiber concentration 

and sugar concentration will help us understand how 

turtles can tolerate fruit diets, when mammalian hind-gut 

fermenters cannot. 

Poster Board No. 075 EXAMINATION OF EFFECT OF DIET, 

PH, AND AGE ON CHITINASE ACTIVITY IN THE GUT OF THE 

YELLOW-BELLIED SLIDER TURTLE TRACHEMYS SCRIPTA 

Adrianne M. Garrett, annie.garrett@otterbein.edu; (Sarah 

S. Bouchard, sbouchard@otterbein.edu;) John T. Tansey, 

jtansey@otterbein.edu; SMC 10744 One Otterbein University 

Westerville, OH 43081


Vol. 112(1) 

The slider turtle, Trachemys scripta, undergoes an ontogenetic 

dietary shift during its life. This dietary change is 

from a carnivorous to herbaceous diet as the turtle matures. 

Digestive enzymes, like chitinase, are needed to 

help break down the exoskeleton of insects allowing access 

to the underlying nutrients. Five year old T. scripta 

are able to digest chitin with an endogenous enzyme. This 

work aimed to establish the existence and location of an 

endogenous chitinase and identify its optimal pH ranges in 

T. scripta hatchlings. It was hypothesized that hatchling 

chitinase activity levels would be higher in hatchlings fed 

insects than in hatchlings fed plants. The stomach, small 

intestine, and large intestine were collected from twenty 

hatchlings that were fed either a plant or insect diet for 

three months. To detect chitinase activity, a fluorescent tag 

of 4-methylumbelliferone was used on a chitin substrate. 

When chitinase digests the substrate, the fluorescent tag 

is cleaved and fluoresces, allowing us to quantify chitinase 

activity. Each segment of the gut will be tested at multiple 

pHs ranging from 2.1-12.0 to determine optimum conditions 

for enzyme activity. Once activity is determined in 

hatchling turtles and, activity levels will be compared with 

five year old turtles to asses chitinase activity among ages. 

Poster Board No. 076 THE SYNTHESIS OF A RESORCINARENE- 

CORE, POLYLACTIDE/POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL STAR BLOCK 

COPOLYMER WITH CLEAVABLE ARMS. Julie Arko, jarko@ 

ashland.edu, (Perry S. Corbin, pcorbin@ashland.edu), 

Ashland University, Department of Chemistry/Geology/ 

Physics, 401 College Ave., Ashland OH 44805. 

Amphiphilic block copolymers have the potential to 

self-organize into micelles in aqueous solution. The 

hydrophobic blocks of these copolymers form the core of 

the aggregate, and the hydrophilic blocks produce the 

outer corona. Along these lines, amphiphilic, four-armed 

calixarene- and resorcinarene-core PLA-PEG star block 

copolymers have been recently synthesized. These star 

block copolymers have the potential to be used as drugdelivery 

devices. Moreover, it is suspected that the 

copolymers will form aggregates with lower critical micelle 

concentrations than their linear counterparts. In some 

instances, the copolymers may function as uni-molecular 

micelles due to their compact star shape. The goal of the 

current study is to prepare an eight-armed resorcinarenecore 

star PLA/PEG that contains cleavable benzyl linkages 

between the resorcinarene-core and the PLA-PEG arms 

of the star block polymer. Cleavage of the arms from the 

core by hydrogenolysis should then allow the polymer 

arms to be characterized independently from the intact 

star polymer. To prepare the polymer, a resorcinarene 

initiator with eight benzyl alcohol initiating sites has been 

synthesized. This resorcinarene is, subsequently, being 

used in a lactide ring-opening polymerization to provide an 

eight-armed resorcinarene-core PLA star homo-polymer. 

Next, attempts will be made to attach a hydrophilic PEG to 

the PLA block by first activating the star PLA chain ends 

and then reacting the activated star homo-polymer with 

a nucleophilic, amino-PEG. The degree of coupling will 

be analyzed by gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), 

1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and 

may also be assessed by cleaving the polymer arms by 

hydrogenolysis. 

Poster Board No. 077 DEGRADATION OF CALIXARENE- 

CORE POLYLACTIDE STAR POLYMERS. MaryKate E. Casper, 

mcasper1@ashland.edu, (Perry S. Corbin, pcorbin@ashland. 

edu), Ashland University, Department of Chemistry/Geology/ 


Polylactides (PLAs) are bio-compatible polymers that 

that have been used in a range of applications, such as 

dissolvable sutures, in implantable drug-delivery devices, 

and in scaffolds for tissue engineering. The use of PLA 

in these applications relies upon the fact that PLA will 

undergo aqueous and enzymatic degradation (hydrolysis) 

over time. The further development of PLAs with wider- 

ranging physical and chemical properties and with 

varying degradation rates is of particular interest because 

the precursor monomer used to prepare PLAs, lactide, 

is prepared from lactic acid. Lactic acid may be derived 

from renewable resources. In an attempt to diversify the 

architectures and properties of PLAs, the synthesis and 

characterization of calixarene- and resorcinarene-core star 

polymers is being investigated. In the current study, a 

four-armed calixarene-core star PLA has been prepared by 

tin(II) catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide. 

The crystallization rate of this lower number average 

molecular weight star PLA (~12 kDa) is slow. Moreover, 

its degree of crystallinity increases with annealing time, as 

revealed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The 

degradation of the star PLA is currently being investigated 

by preparing thin films of the polymers and then exposing 

the films to a solution of aqueous base—conditions which 

allow a rapid analysis of degradation rate. Degradation 

of the polymers will be monitored by mass loss from the 

films, gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), and 1 H 

nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. It 

is hypothesized that the calixarene-core star PLA will 

have a degradation rate that decreases with increasing 

crystallinity and that differs from a linear PLA analog 

with similar number average molecular weight. 

Poster Board No. 078 SPACE ELEVATORS IN THE SATURNIAN 

SYSTEM. Francis Graham francisgraham@rocketmail.com 

Kent State University, East Liverpool Regional Campus, 400 

East 4 th Street, East Liverpool, OH 43920 

The system of Saturn has > 60 moons. Two, Dione and 

Tethys, each have a pair of moonlets at their L4 and L5 

Lagrangian points, preceding and trailing 60 o behind 

the larger moon. For Tethys, these two Trojan moons 

are Telesto and Calypso; for Dione, they are Helene and 

Polydeuces. All six of these related moons are tidally 

locked in their rotation to Saturn, each with a nearside 

and farside. Hypothetically it is theoretically possible to 

construct a space elevator system between the moons of each 

trio without a disconnect of any terminus, and diamond 

fibers or carbon nanotubes would suffice for construction. 

Calculations indicate that in spite of the long lengths of 

the connecting cables the majority of tensile forces come 

from the gravitational forces of the larger moons, and 

these do not exceed 1000 megapascals. In future centuries 

when such a space elevator system might be constructed, 

diamond fibers might provide such a material for the cables 

with a tensile strength of 3500 megapascals, a concept 

suggested for space elevators before. Small polycrystalline 

diamond fibers are now manufactured, and Jones and 

Wang (2000) have patented a process that can transform 

diamond fibers to a single crystal. Alternatively, carbon 

nanotubes can be used. Although there is no terminus 

disconnect, small ellipticities of the orbits would require 

variable length cables, which might be accommodated by 

some process of large storage spooling at the terminus. 

This variation is greatest in the Dione-Polydeuces system, 

where it is about 10,000 km., which may be prohibitive. 

The Tethys-Telesto-Calypso system is the better option 

with a variation of less than 350 km. 

Poster Board No. 079 COMPARISON OF MOLECULAR AND 

SEROLOGIC METHODS FOR FELINE IMMUNODEFICIENCY 

VIRUS DIAGNOSIS. Deborah R. Nascimento 1 , deborahrn18@ 

yahoo.com.br, Fabiana Alves 1,3 , alves.bio@gmail.com, Carlos 

Mazur 2 , carlosmazur@hotmail.com, Daniela de S. Rajão 3 , 

danirajao@gmail.com, Gissandra Farias Braz 3 , gissa_braz@ 

yahoo.com.br, Helen L. Del Puerto 1 , helendelpuerto@hotmail. 

com, Francisco de O. Vieira 1 , chicobrant@gmail.com, Sarah F. 

Martins 1,4 , sarahebreia@yahoo.com.br, Almir de S. Martins 1 , 

alisbetermster@gmail.com, Rômulo C.Leite 3 , romulocleite@ 

ufmg.br , Jenner K. P. dos Reis 3 , jenner@ufmg.br, Av. Antônio 

Carlos, 6627 Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 31270901. 

1 Department of Biophysics Physiology, Biology Institute, 

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. 2 Department

Vol. 112(1) 

of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology, Universidade 

Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 3 Department of Preventive 

Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary School, Universidade Federal 

de Minas Gerais, Brazil. 4 Department of Biology, Universidade 

Federal de Lavras, Brazil. 

The feline immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus belonging 

to the genus Lentivirus that infects domestic and wild cats 

and causes feline immunodeficiency, highly infectious and 

contagious disease that can be diagnosed by serological 

and molecular methods. The objective of this study was 

to evaluate and compare the techniques of Western blot 

and PCR for diagnosis of feline immunodeficiency virus. 

Blood samples from 150 cats diagnosed from the SNAP 

Combo Plus were used. As positive and negative controls 

for the feline immunodeficiency virus were used blood 

samples from cats tested by SNAP Combo Plus, PCR and 

Western blot. The Western blot had a sensitivity of 100% 

and a specificity of 97%, while PCR showed a sensitivity 

of 91% and a specificity of 97%. The Western blot showed 

a higher sensitivity and specificity when compared to 

PCR, which shows that the Western blot test is the most 

accurate method for diagnosis of the immunodeficiency 

virus. Accurate diagnosis is extremely important for the 

control of feline immunodeficiency virus and studies on the 

epidemiology of this disease. 

Poster Board No. 080 THE SUBCLONING AND IDENTIFICATION 

OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES FORMED FROM VIRAL 

PROTEIN R (Vpr) IMMUNIzED MICE. Poornima Oruganti, 

poruganti@student.ysu.edu, Ester Hutchinson, 

Ganesaratnam K. Balendiran, Diana L. Fagan (D.L. Fagan), 

Youngstown State University, Department of Biology, One 

University Plaza, Youngstown OH 44555. 

Viral Protein R (Vpr), is a protein that directs the 

nuclear import of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus 

pre-integration complex. Recent research has suggested 

that Vpr can act as an anti-cancer agent by overcoming 

the apoptotic resistance, or resistance to programmed 

cell death, displayed by some cancer cells and by holding 

cancer cells in the G2 phase of the cell cycle (LeRouzic 

and Benichou, 2005). In this study, monoclonal antibodies 

formed from Vpr immunized mice were subcloned and 

tested for specificity. Hybridomas were cloned using 

limiting dilution with MRC-5 feeder cells. The multiwell 

plates were examined microscopically to identify the 

wells with single clones. Supernatants were collected from 

wells that showed healthy, monoclonal cells and tested for 

antibodies that bind to Vpr. An ELISA was performed with 

purified Vpr as the antigen. Mouse antiserum against Vpr 

was used as a positive control. The absorbance was read 

using a 450-nanometer wavelength to determine antibody 

binding. Subcloning of the three different hybridomas (DF. 

VPR.G4, EH.VPR.A2, and DF.VPR.C4) was performed 

using limiting dilution analysis. In the first subcloning, 

DF.VPR.G4.B11 was weakly positive. Two additional 

hybridoma supernatants, EH.VPR.A2.G3 and DF.VPR. 

C4.E11, tested positive for antibody against Vpr. The 

antibodies produced in theses studies will be purified 

and used to identify Vpr in Western Blots. Using these 

antibodies, molecules that regulate Vpr production in host 

cells will be identified. 


Pre-College Poster Session 

1:30pm – 4:00pm 

Schar 2 nd Floor 

Poster Board No. 001 THE EFFECTS OF COMMON DOMESTIC 

ANIMAL MANURES ON SOYBEANS. Michaela M. Dean: 

mdean43015@gmail.com 282 N Washington St, Delaware OH 

43015 (Rutherford B. Hayes High School) 

This study was designed to determine which common 

domestic animal manure was the best fertilizer for 

soybeans. It was hypothesized that soybeans grown 


using dairy cow manure tea would grow best. Soybeans 

were grown using sheep, chicken, horse, and dairy cow 

manure tea fertilizer. The control group was grown with 

water only. This experiment consisted of two trials with 

50 soybeans grown in each trial, with a total of 20 plants 

per category. The soybeans were allowed to grow for four 

weeks, then harvested, placed in a forced air drying oven, and 

weighed to find the dry weight. The dry weight was the main 

factor used to determine the experimental outcome because 

it shows exactly how much organic matter was grown by 

the plants. In this experiment, values of dry weight, height, 

length of roots, number of leaves, length of longest leaf, width 

of widest leaf, percent germination, the Nitrogen levels, 

Phosphorous levels, Potassium levels and pH of the soil and 

manures were collected. The control group had the highest 

germination percentage at 90% and had the longest average 

root length at 19.9 cm; plants fertilized with chicken manure 

had the widest leaves at 1.78 cm, greatest number of leaves 

at 5 per plant, tallest stems at 13.6 cm; and plants fertilized 

with sheep manure had the longest leaves at 2.41cm. Plants 

fertilized with chicken manure also had the greatest stem 

dry weight at 0.17g and plants fertilized with cow manure 

had the greatest root dry weight at 0.11g. These results did 

support the hypothesis. The plants grown with cow manure 

tea as fertilizer were overall the healthiest and grew the 

best, likely because of the low nitrogen content in dairy cow 

manure, since soybeans are sensitive to excessive nitrogen 

in the soil. Possible errors and uncontrolled variables that 

could have influenced the data include the quality of seeds, 

temperature of water, height of the lights in the second trial, 

any medications or vaccines given to the animals (affecting 

the composition of the manure), and age of the manure. If 

this experiment were repeated, seeds would be ordered in 

one batch, the water applied to the plants would be the same 

temperature and chemistry, and the schedule on the second 

trial would be strictly followed, and the manure would be 

aged longer than 2 weeks before it was made into tea. The 

experiment would also be repeated in spring or summer 

outside, rather than a makeshift greenhouse in a basement. 

In conclusion, this study will help to maximize the yield of an 

economically useful crop through organic means. 

Poster Board No. 002 BIO FLOW OR NO GO: DOES SOY 

BIODIESEL VISCOSITY DIFFER FROM NO.2 PETRO DIESEL 

VISCOCITY AT VARYING TEMPERATURES? Morgan T. Kessler, 

flas2sox@aol.com, 18109 Delaware County Line Road, 

Ostrander, Ohio 43061, Bunsold Middle School. 

Historically diesel engines have generally operated on petro 

fuels. Recently biofuels have gained attention as a more 

environmentally friendly fuel alternative. Petro fuels have 

been known for having complications in cold weather when 

the fuel becomes too viscous and the engine fails. Coldflow 

additives lower the gel point of petro diesel, but are 

ineffective on soy biodiesel. The purpose of this study was 

to determine if there is a significant difference between 

No. 2 petro diesel viscosity and soy B20 biodiesel viscosity 

at 50 o C, 0 o C, and -20 o C without cold flow additives. The 

hypothesis: Soy biodiesel viscosity differs significantly 

from No. 2 petro diesel viscosity in relation to changes 

in temperature. Three samples of soy biodiesel and No. 2 

petro diesel were collected from different manufacturers. 

Flow rate was determined by measuring the amount of 

time 10 ml of each sample took to drain from a viscometer 

with a 2mm diameter drain tube 2cm long at the various 

temperatures. This procedure was repeated three times for 

each sample at each temperature and flow rate means were 

calculated. An independent samples t-test was performed 

at a 95% confidence level. It was found that there was 

not a significant difference at 50 o C (t=0.156). However, at 

0 o C (t=2.366) and -20 o C (t=8.741) there was a significant 

difference. At 0 o C soy biodiesel had a higher viscosity, and 

at -20 o C No.2 petro diesel had a higher viscosity. 

Poster Board No. 003 SCENT AND SALES: THE EFFECT OF SCENT 

ON CLOTHING PURCHASES. Gillian M. Baker, zionkows@ 

ohio.edu, 1318 Wheeling Rd., Lancaster OH 43130. (St. Mary 

Catholic School)


Vol. 112(1) 

Retail merchandizing has recently focused on intensifying 

the sensory experiences of consumers. This project is 

designed to identify the relationship between scent and 

consumers’ willingness to purchase an item of clothing. 

The hypothesis is that consumers will be more likely to 

purchase pleasantly scented clothing than unscented 

merchandise. Several influences on consumer behavior 

were examined, including general scent preference and 

scents marketed specifically to male or female consumers. 

The fragrances chosen for testing included Pink® “Soft 

and Pure” (marketed to female adolescents), AXE® “Clix” 

(marketed to male adolescents), and a gender-neutral 

cinnamon water solution. In three separate trials, pairs 

of jeans were sprayed with Pink® “Soft and Pure,” AXE® 

“Clix,” or the cinnamon solution, while the other pair was 

left unscented. The test subjects, five boys and five girls 

twelve or thirteen years of age, were in private interviews 

presented with the scented and unscented pairs of jeans 

and asked to state which pair they would purchase. In 

each of the three trials, the majority of the test subjects 

indicated that they preferred the scented pair of jeans. Both 

the Pink® and the gender-neutral scent were selected by 

80 percent of the test subjects, while 100 percent chose the 

AXE® scent. This research confirms that scent is effective 

in promoting the purchasing of merchandise and suggests 

scent is a determinant of consumer behavior, regardless of 

gender. 

Poster Board No. 004 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A STUDY ON 

ATTRACTION. Lauren C. Thomas, ltsweetpea@hotmail.com , 7 

Warwick Lane, Athens, OH 45701(Athens High School). 

The purpose of this study was to determine what teenagers 

find attractive in other human beings, and whether 

males view attractiveness differently than their female 

counterparts. A survey was created with ten pairs of two 

images: one a composite image made from different images 

of human beings, therefore being the more symmetrical of 

the two pairs in each image, and the other an individual 

image downloaded from FaceResearch.com. Each subject 

was instructed to circle the letter underneath the image 

that he or she found more attractive and to check the box 

next to their gender at the bottom of the survey. It was 

hypothesized that both males and females would choose 

the composite image as the more attractive one, regardless 

of gender, because humans are genetically programmed 

to find faces with average and symmetrical features more 

attractive as they are a sign of genetic perfection. One 

hundred and sixteen teenage subjects, 66 male and 50 

female, took the survey anonymously. In order to analyze 

the data, each survey response was given a score out of 

10--a point was given for each time a subject chose the 

composite image as the more attractive. Then the average 

of the scores for males was calculated, along with the 

female average and the overall average. The male average 

score was 8.70, the female average score was 8.56, and 

the overall average score was 8.63. When a subject chose 

the individual picture as the more attractive image, the 

number of the pair was recorded. The top three pairs 

in which the individual picture was chosen as the more 

attractive image were determined. In conclusion, the data 

supported the hypothesis. 

Poster Board No. 005 ARE BOYS MORE RIGHT BRAINED THAN 

GIRLS? Mikhaila E. Duvall teehee1087@aol.com, 2320 Royal 

Creek Ct., Grove City OH 43123. (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) 

The purpose of this test was to determine if boys were 

more “right brained” than girls. It was hypothesized 

that boys would be more “right brained than girls”. The 

“left brain” is the center for speech, rational thinking 

and logic. The “right brain” is the center for random 

thinking, synthesizing, and looking at the whole. This was 

hypothesized when found what each side of the brain was 

performing. The materials used were assessments from 

the Memory Bible and a clock. Two types of tests were 

given: right and left brain quizzes. The tests evaluated 

whether the student was right or left brained. There were 

28 girls and 14 boys who took the test. After passing out 

the tests to the students, it was explained that the test 

was to determine whether they were right or left brained. 

Subjects were given 45 minutes to complete the tests. All 

the subjects completed the test in that time period. Tests 

were collected and scored according to the guidelines of the 

Memory Bible. The tests were separated into gender piles 

and labeled L for “left brain” and R for “right brained”. In a 

group of 14 males 21.43% are whole brained while females 

in a group of 28 are 39.39% whole brained. For “left brain” 

it was found that 35.71% of males are “left brained”, while 

28.57% of females are “left brained”. Among males 42.86% 

of males are “right brained”, while 32.14% of females are 

“right brained”. The hypothesis was accepted. 

Poster Board No. 006 LEARNING TO HEAR: DEVELOPING A 

DOUBLE PHONEME BOUNDARY WITH SECOND LANGUAGE 

LEARNING, Josephine G. Benson, josephinegbenson@gmail. 

com, 724 S. Summit St., Bowling Green, OH 43402 

Researchers suggest mastering a second language requires 

learning to hear it as a native would. Languages categorize 

the same sounds differently. A sound English speakers 

perceive as /b/, Spanish speakers perceive as /p/. The 

same mouth movements produce these consonants; they 

differ only in voice onset time (VOT), ranging from -100 

ms to 100 ms. English discriminates /b/ from /p/ at ~30 

ms; Spanish at ~0 ms. This discrimination point is the 

phoneme boundary. Adult bilingual speakers have two 

phoneme boundaries, switching between them according 

to language context. However, researchers have not 

examined at what level of experience learners acquire this 

ability. This study compares 30 pre-college students taking 

Spanish IV, Spanish II, or No Spanish to identify when 

a boundary appears. Participants heard 78 synthesized 

sounds from the ambiguous 0-30 ms VOT range and 

identified them by selecting designated computer keys. It 

was hypothesized that Spanish IV students would identify 

a greater percentage of ambiguous sounds as /p/. 57.7% of 

Spanish IV students identified ambiguous phonemes as /p/, 

compared to 47.7% of Spanish II and No Spanish students. 

Spanish IV students had a mean reaction time of 466 ms 

as compared to 363 ms by Spanish II and No Spanish 

students. This reaction time difference was statistically 

significant, t(8) = 3.132, p = .014. These results suggest 

Spanish IV students, due to greater language experience, 

are beginning to develop a double phoneme boundary and 

to hear the same physical sound as two different speech 

phonemes depending upon language context. 

Poster Board No. 007 DIGITALIS-LIKE FACTORS OUTSIDE THE 

FIGWORT FAMILY. Natalie J. Norman natalie.norman1@gmail. 

com, 3658 Rackacres Drive, Cincinnati OH (Walnut Hills High 

School) Judith Heiny, heinyja@ucmail.uc.edu, University of 

Cincinnati, Department of Physiology. 

Digitalis, a class of compounds extracted from foxglove 

(Digitalis), a member of the figwort family, inhibits 

Na+,K+ATPase and is clinically important in the treatment 

of congestive heart failure. Unfortunately, digitalis-like 

compounds have low therapeutic indexes. Identifying 

alternative digitalis-like factors may provide drugs with 

expanded therapeutic indexes. The goal of this study was to 

test the hypothesis that digitalis-like factors exist outside 

the figwort family. Water-soluble digitalis-like factors were 

extracted, using methanol, from the tissues of Convallaria 

majalis, a member of the figwort family, Antirrhinum, 

Veronicastrum virginicum and Verbascum phlomodes, 

species related to figworts. Convallaria majalis, as a 

member of the figwort family and known to contain digitalislike 

factors, served as a positive control for the extraction 

procedure. Ouabain was used as a quantitative positive 

control for the enzyme activity assay. The concentration 

of digitalis-like factors in each plant extract was measured 

by their ability to inhibit Na+,K+ATPase activity in vitro. 

This assay measures the rate of ATP hydrolysis by the 

formation of ADP. This is reflected by the formation of 

NADH+ measured spectophotometrically and quantified

Vol. 112(1) 

by a comparison to a ouabain standard curve where the IC 50 

was 2.3 μg/ml. Comparison of the plant extracts with the 

ouabain standard curve showed that 1.73 g of Convallaria 

majalis and 2.16 g Verbascum phlomoides contained 1 mg 

of ouabain-like activity. The remaining extracts contained 

no detectable levels of oubain-like activity. These results 

demonstrate digitalis-like factors are not restricted to 

the figwort family, although they are present at lower 

concentrations in related species. 

Poster Board No. 008 ARTIFICIALLY-INDUCED 

OLIGODENDROCYTE APOPTOSIS AS A MODEL FOR MULTIPLE 

SCLEROSIS. Ingrid N. zippe. ingridzippe@gmail.com. 

17370 South Park Boulevard, Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120. 

(Hathaway Brown School) 

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder resulting 

from myelin degeneration in the central nervous system 

(CNS). A growing body of research suggests that an early 

stage of aberrant oligodendrocyte apoptosis precedes 

T-lymphocyte infiltration and myelin deterioration in 

MS. An experiment was designed to study the effects of 

oligodendrocyte apoptosis within the CNS. Caspase 9 is an 

enzyme that begins cellular apoptosis. A line of transgenic 

mice was engineered in which the MBP (myelin basic 

protein) promoter unique to oligodendrocytes promotes both 

an inducible version of Caspase 9 (iCP9) and a fluorescent 

marker (DsRed). Systemic exposure to an iCP9 crosslinking 

agent (CID) induces the oligodendrocyte apoptosis 

cascade. The dorsal column region surrounding the spinal 

cord of wild-type and transgenic mice were injected with 

either saline or CID at postnatal day-4. The animals were 

sacrificed, and the spinal cord tissue was fixed at postnatal 

day-7. Immunohistochemical staining in transgenic mice 

revealed co-labeling of MBP and DsRed, as well as exclusivity 

of DsRed and other neural cell markers, substantiating 

the oligo-specificity of the model. Staining for CC1, an 

oligodendrocyte marker, demonstrated a 43% decrease in 

CC1+ cells between wild-type and CID-injected transgenic 

mice, and staining for DsRed demonstrated an 80% decrease 

in DsRed+ cells between saline-injected transgenic mice 

and CID-injected transgenic mice. MBP and neurofilament 

staining of experimental tissue revealed scattered myelin 

sheaths and axons, similar the typical phenotype of 

late-stage MS tissue. We conclude that oligodendrocyte 

apoptosis may contribute to myelin disorganization and 

morphological change in axonal arrangement. 

Poster Board No. 010 INVESTIGATION OF DEXAMETHASONE 

LOADING IN SYNTHETIC PLATELETS. Serena W. Chang, 

schang13@hb.edu, Ranti Ositelu, rositelu@gmail.com, 

Andrew Shoffstall, andrew.shoffstall@case.edu, Erin Lavik 

Sc.D., erin.lavik@case.edu, Case Western Reserve University, 

3418 Thomson Circle, Rocky River OH 44116. (Hathaway 

Brown School) 

Uncontrolled hemorrhage is a prevalent cause of death in 

military and civilian trauma patients. Synthetic platelets 

in the form of functionalized nanoparticles have been 

recently developed to help staunch internal hemorrhage. 

This project aims to extend these synthetic platelets’ 

functionality even further by investigating their loading 

with the corticosteroid dexamethasone to address the 

subsequent inflammation that develops after trauma. 

Since the synthetic platelets collect at an injury site, they 

have the potential to address this secondary issue locally. 

Particle size is an important factor that determines the 

drug release profile as well as determines the safety for 

intravenous injection; particles must be larger than ~50 

nm so as not to be filtered by the kidneys and substantially 

smaller than the ~5 micron capillaries through which they 

are proposed to circulate. This study investigated particle 

diameter after loading them with dexamethasone at 10%, 

20%, and 40%, weight/weight. Size was characterized with 

dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy 

and was distributed between 400 and 600 nanometers, 

with 20% loading having the smallest diameters. These 

results are important because they show that drug loading 


with dexamethasone is possible and maintains a viable 

size distribution for intravenous injection. 

Poster Board No. 011 COMBATING BIOTERRORISM: 

DETERMINATION OF MINIMUM PATHOGEN DNA TEMPLATE 

CONCENTRATION (MPC) FOR RAPID, ACCURATE, AND 

EFFICIENT DETECTION OF BIOTERROR AGENTS!. Anamika 

Veeramani, malar44133@yahoo.com, 9388 Chesapeake Dr., 

North Royalton OH 44133. (Laurel School) 

This project estimates Minimum Pathogen DNA template 

Concentration (MPC) for select pathogens to ascertain the 

feasibility of predetermining and publishing MPC data for 

bioterror agents. MPC is defined as the lowest concentration 

of the pathogen DNA template in the PCR assay that 

results in a clear gel band indicating the presence of the 

source pathogen. pUC plasmid extract and DNA extracts of 

Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis were chosen as DNA 

templates. DNA template concentrations were prepared 

using serial dilution method. illustra puReTaq Ready-To- 

Go PCR beads were used with primers, Eub16S1 and 

Eub16S2 for E.coli, and B.subtilis, and primers M13F 

and M13R for pUC plasmid PCR assays. Agarose gel 

electrophoresis molecular technique was used to detect the 

presence of source pathogens and establish MPC. Presence 

of gel bands on computer-generated PCR gel images 

was visually inspected to identify the presence of source 

pathogen. PCR assays were prepared for E.coli(65µg/ 

µl, 6.5µg/µl), B. subtilis(10µg/µl, 1µg/µl), and pUC(30µg/ 

µl, 3µg/µl) at two different DNA template concentrations 

and PCR cycles were carried out. Gel run was conducted 

for each of the assays. Separate negative controls for the 

bacterial DNA extracts and pUC were included in the gel 

run, along with 1KB ladder DNA standard size marker and 

Lambda Hind III standard molecular weight marker. The 

concentration for which the gel band was clearly visible was 

recorded for each of the pathogen DNA templates. Another 

gel run of the PCR assays for E.coli (6.5µg/µl, 0.65µg/µl, 

0.065µg/µl, 0.0065µg/µl, 0.00065µg/µl), B.subtilis(1µg/µl, 

0.1µg/µl, 0.01µg/µl, 0.001µg/µl, 0.0001µg/µl), and pUC(µl, 

0.3µg/µl, 0.03µg/µl, 0.003µg/µl, 0.0003µg/µl) was repeated 

at five different DNA template concentrations to zoom 

in on the minimum concentration that yielded a clear 

gel band. This minimum DNA template concentration at 

which the source pathogen’s presence was detectable was 

documented as the MPC value(0.03µg/µl for pUC; 0.01µg/ 

µl for B. subtilis; 0.065µg/µl for E. coli). The above study 

demonstrates that MPC thresholds can be predetermined 

and catalogued for bioterror agents. Publishing MPC data 

may help with optimal PCR assay design for faster and 

more accurate detection of the agents in case of a bioterror 

outbreak when time to detect becomes crucial. 


Poster Board No. 017 THE EFFECT OF LIGHT TYPE AND 

SPECTRUM ON FIR (Abies bAlsAmeA) NEEDLE ABSCISSION. 

Samantha P. Rowland, carrie.rowland@wright.edu, 747 Hawk 

Avenue, Tipp City OH 45371. (Tippecanoe Middle School) 

Natural production of ethylene gas, coupled with heat, 

likely trigger fir (Abies balsamea) needle abscission in 

Christmas trees. While research has been conducted 

to limit the effect of ethylene gas on needle abscission, 

methods rely heavily on chemical treatments. This 

experiment compared two different decorative holiday 

light types; light emitting diode (LED) and incandescent, 

and three different spectrums of light; red, white, and blue 

on the rate of fir needle abscission as an alternative to 

chemical treatment. It was hypothesized that white lights, 

being most similar to full spectrum sunlight, in the cooler 

LED treatment would result in the least needle abscission. 

A total of 14, three foot tall, 15 year old fir trees were 

exposed for 21 days to red, white, or blue lights in both 

LED and incandescent forms (N=2 trees per treatment). 

Overall, the fir trees exposed to LED light exhibited the 

least needle loss, however, color also seemed to make a 

difference. Trees exposed for 21 days to red LED light lost


Vol. 112(1) 

the least number of needles (3,625), while those exposed 

to white incandescent light lost the most (24,509). Fir 

trees exposed to red incandescent light did almost as 

well as those exposed to red LED light. While both blue 

and red light drive photosynthesis well, both also trigger 

stomatal opening. Stomatal opening, however, is much 

more sensitive to blue light than to red. Blue light alone 

may stimulate more water loss and drying which may have 

been more deleterious than its beneficial effect. It is likely 

that the red LED and red incandescent trees lost fewer 

needles for this reason. The white incandescent treatments 

tended to generate more heat (2-5°F), and were likely more 

drying. This research indicates that the best light type and 

color for a Christmas tree is LED in the spectrum of red. 

Poster Board No. 018 CONTROLLING THE FACTORS OF RUST 

ON STEEL. James C Mangicaro Jr, monica.spence@gmail.com 

812 Hartz Dr. A, Lebanon OH 45036(Royalmont Academy, 

Mason OH 45040) 

This experiment identified the different factors causing 

steel to rust. The hypothesis was that if a steel sample is 

left outside and or exposed to water the steel sample will 

rust. Ninety steel washers were used in this experiment. 

The types of steel washers used were stainless steel, 

galvanized steel, uncoated steel, and zinc coated steel. To 

produce uncoated steel washers, the galvanized coating 

was removed from some of the galvanized washers by 

soaking them in vinegar for several days. The chemical 

reaction is Zn + 2HoAc→Zn(oAc)₂ + H₂. In the experiment, 

four different types of water were used: salt water, rain 

water, commercial available bottled water, and bottled 

water with added WD-40. One separate set of washers 

was used as a control (the washers that didn’t have any 

water applied to them). Forty-five washers were attached 

to two peg boards. One board was treated inside and one 

was treated outdoors. Each board was sprayed two times a 

day with each type of water. The temperature and humidity 

around each board was recorded daily. Final results 

caused me to conclude that the washers exposed to water 

rusted more than those that were not exposed to water, 

confirming the hypothesis. It was also discovered that the 

washers on the inside board rusted more than the ones 

on the outdoor board and application of salt water caused 

the most rusting. One possible reason for more rust on the 

inside washers could be attributed to the higher inside 

temperature and relative humidity. The control washers 

that were left outdoors also showed additional signs of 

rusting. The findings from this experiment may be useful 

in identifying ways to keep steel from rusting. Rust is an 

oxidation process. The chemical reactions are Fe + ⅟₂O₂ + 

H₂O→Fe(OH)₂ + and 2Fe(OH)₂ + ⅟₂O₂ + H₂O→2Fe(OH)₃. 

Poster Board No. 019 ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS IN VARIOUS TYPES 

OF VITAMIN WATERS. Jane Kim, 13jkim@beaumontschool. 

org, 4960 Foxlair Trail, Richmond Heights OH 44143. 

(Beaumont School) 

Countless people in the world suffer from degenerative 

diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. Free radicals are 

one of the deadly root causes. Antioxidants neutralize free 

radicals and prevent such fatal effects from occurring. 

People often turn to health drinks for vitamins and 

nutrients, especially vitamin waters. With so many 

available, the choice is difficult. This project tests various 

types of vitamin waters to reveal which ones hold the most 

and least antioxidants. By examining the nutrition labels 

of seven drinks, it was hypothesized that Vitamin Water 

Rise® held the most antioxidants because of its very high 

percentage of vitamins C and A, while G2® had the least. 

This hypothesis was tested by using a spectrophotometer, 

which measures light intensity. 200 µL of the radical 

solution, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, was mixed with 3 

mL of methanol and 5 µl, 10 µl, 15 µl, and 20 µL of the 

vitamin water being tested each respective time. The 

spectrophotometer measured the radical solution’s light 

absorbance before and after the vitamin water was added. 

By plugging in the recorded initial and final absorbances 

of each of the vitamin waters into the equation 1/(final 

absorbance-initial absorbance), the percentage of radicals 

inhibited was determined. After plotting the results, the 

IC50 (the amount of vitamin water needed to inhibit 

50% of the free-radicals) was determined. From these 

results, it was concluded that the initial hypothesis made 

was partially incorrect. Nutrient Enhanced 365® had 

the lowest IC50 of 9 µL, showing that it had the highest 

amount of antioxidants. It had 7 times more antioxidants 

than Propel Berry®, which had an IC50 of 60 µL and 

showed to have the lowest concentration of antioxidants 

that could be plotted. Function® and G2® both had the 

lowest amount of antioxidants, inhibiting less than 1% 

of the radicals. The results of Function® and G2® were 

not able to be plotted to determine their IC50s due to the 

extremely low concentrations of antioxidants, which could 

not inhibit at least 50% of the radicals. Vitamin Water 

Rise® had the second lowest IC50 of 13 µL and the second 

highest concentration of antioxidants. The conclusions were 

quite unexpected because the vitamin water drinks that 

specifically advertised the excellent antioxidant abilities 

the particular drink had, notably Propel Berry® and Propel 

Grape®, had some of the lowest amounts of antioxidants. 

These results indicate that some product labels may 

overstate the true nutrient capability that foods have. 

Poster Board No. 020 RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION 

(RFID) TECHNOLOGY: A NOVEL METHOD TO ASSIST THE 

BLIND, THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED AND DEMETIA PATIENTS. 

Aman Kumar, kumarhome@yahoo.com, 4637 Forest Ridge 

Drive, Mason OH 45040. (William Mason High School). 

There are many disabilities without simple cures including 

blindness and dementia. While others work to find 

medical solutions to these problems, computer assisted 

technology can be used to help improve quality of life. The 

application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to 

enable the blind and visually impaired and dementia could 

be of great assistance. The hypothesis was that RFID 

technology can be applied to help a blind person improve 

his or her independence and safety at home. RFID chips 

work like a sensor and can be used to control surroundings 

for the personal comfort and safety of the person. In the 

experiment, only passive RFID chips were used as it does 

not require any battery. Testing of over 100 chips with 

13.56 MHz vs. 900 MHz each showed that 100% of the 900 

MHz chips read with accuracy at a distance of 1 meter while 

less than 10% of 13.56 MHz chips were read accurately. 

Testing of the portable 900 MHz RFID scanner with the 

computer was done over 10 times and showed that the 

instructions were 100% accurate when the simulated blind 

person walked within 1 meter of the 12 areas where RFID 

chips were placed in a house. Visual Basic (VBA) converted 

commands typed in Microsoft ® Excel ® by the caregiver to 

voice output. Testing of the Excel ® based instructions 

(typed by simulated caretaker) linked to Visual Basic 

programming showed that instructions were immediately 

voiced to the simulated blind person. Testing confirmed 

that whenever a person equipped with the scanner came 

into an area where RFID chips were installed, he or she 

was guided accurately by voice instructions associated 

with the RFID chip. This RFID-based system could make 

the home safer by allowing for increased independence. 

Poster Board No. 021 THE EFFECT OF PAINTBALL IMPACT 

ON GOGGLE INTEGRITY IN WINTER TEMPERATURES. Michael 

Kruzer, mskruzer@aol.com, 12493 Bentbrook Drive, 

Chesterland, Ohio 44026 (West Geauga High School). 

Paintball is the 3 rd largest alternative sport, played by 

10,357,000+ individuals in the US alone in 2006. Paintball 

is relatively safe, but when eye injuries result from the 

impact of high velocity paintballs, they are often severe 

and can lead to blindness. Eye injury incidence in 2000 

exceeded 1200, with 40% pediatric. Students use paintball 

masks, but often wear safety or ski goggles because of cost 

and availability, while proper eye protection with a certified 

ASTM F1776-10 full-face paintball mask can prevent 97%

Vol. 112(1) 

of injuries. It was hypothesized that if protective eyewear 

was impacted by paintballs shot within a 3m distance in 

winter temperatures (-5 o C – 0 o C), lens integrity would be 

compromised, risking severe eye injury. 2 safety goggles, 

1 ski goggle, and 2 full-face paintball masks were tested 

at different ranges to assess their ability to withstand 

paintball force at different ranges in winter temperatures. 

The paintball marker was calibrated to 86.26-87.48 m/s, 

tests were performed at distances of 12.2m, 9.1m, 6.1m, 

3.0m, and 1.5m from the goggles; each lens was shot 5 

times, cleaned, inspected for damage, and repeated at the 

closer distance. The hypothesis was partially supported- 

the 2 paintball mask lenses and the AO Safety Impact 

Goggle withstood the force of impact to 1.5m. The MSA 

Safety Goggle and the Smith Ski Goggle failed at 3.0m. 

The limited number of trials does not prove that impacts of 

1.5 or 3.0m are safe even with appropriate masks. ASTM 

F1776-10 certified masks designed for paintball should be 

used during paintball to prevent serious eye injuries. 

Poster Board No. 022 DEVELOPMENT OF A SINGLE-USE, 

DISPOSABLE CHOLESTEROL BIOSENSOR USED IN HUMAN 

SERUM. Alice T. Catanzaro1 , alicecatanzaro@roadrunner. 

com, Metini Jayasupab2 , mxj53@case.edu, Chung-Chiun 

Liu2 , cx19@case.edu, 12803 Scarborough Rd., Cleveland 

Heights OH 44118. (Hathaway Brown School), 2 Department 

of Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University. 

The rapid and simple determination of cholesterol 

levels is a growing need due to the recent increase in 

obesity and cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol level 

determination is a common medical procedure and 

necessary for determining the risk for heart attacks or 

strokes. It was hypothesized that a thick-film, screenprinted, 

disposable cholesterol biosensor using iridium 

nanoparticles that provides high sensitivity at a low 

voltage operation could be created. The biosensor was 

prepared by immobilizing the cholesterol oxidase enzyme, 

covalently bonded with Nafion (an ion conductive polymer) 

solution on a sensor prototype. Through the quantification 

of the hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct of the cholesterol 

oxidation reaction, the biosensor can accurately determine 

cholesterol concentrations from 20 to 250mg/dl at room 

temperature in human serum with amperometry (current 

vs. time) and cyclic voltammetry (current vs. potential). 

The preliminary results show that this biosensor can 

successfully detect cholesterol concentrations from 20- 

250 mg/dl, which includes the clinically important range 

of 200mg/dl and above (risk level for heart disease). The 

biosensor provides a good sensitivity of 2.55nA/ (mg/dl) 

with an R 2 of 0.97. A low Michaelis-Menten constant of 

52.5 millimolar shows a high affinity of cholesterol oxidase 

for the cholesterol, translating into less enzyme needed 

for this detection. The sensor takes only 100 seconds run 

time to detect cholesterol. The lower detection limit was 

determined to be around 18-20mg/dl. The effectiveness of 

the biosensor in human serum indicates that the sensor 

can have a practical application for human cholesterol 

detection. Furthermore, the biosensor, which costs only a 

few dollars, is capable of accurately detecting a wide range 

of cholesterol concentrations with a simple reaction and 

just 100 seconds run time. 

Poster Board No. 023 THE CORRELATION BETWEEN 

AERODYNAMIC LIFT AND AIRFOIL TYPE. Will C. Tekulve, 

dnrtk4@hotmail.com, 42 Illona Drive, Cincinnati OH 45218. 

(Walnut Hills High School) 

This study determined which of three wing types 

would generate the most lift. Wings were categorized 

by symmetrical, under cambered, and flat bottom. The 

prepared tests will determine the order of lift generated. 

The original hypothesis predicted that the under cambered 

wing would be first, the symmetrical wing second, and the 

flat bottom third. The testing was completed by putting 

each of the three wing types in a wind tunnel (each wing 

was constructed using identical size balsa wood to keep 

wing area constant). Then a weight was attached to the 


wing, and the leaf blower was turned on (generating wind), 

causing the wing to lift upward. This subtracted a reading 

from the scale on which the weight was placed. The 

difference was recorded as lift generated. This was done 

three times for each wing, called one testing session, and 

the testing session was repeated five times. The results 

state that the under cambered wing was first overall in 

lift generated, with an average lift of 37.2 grams. The flat 

bottom wing was second, with an average of 16.1 grams. 

The symmetrical wing generated the least lift, with an 

average of 13.7 grams. These results signify that the shape 

of the under cambered wing is the most effective choice for 

a high-lift and low-airspeed aircraft. 

Poster Board No. 024 STUCK ON SLUMP: A TEST OF 

LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE. Mica L Brooks, mbrooks@students. 

theelms.org, 2427 Covington Road, Akron, OH 44313. (Our 

Lady of the Elms High School) 

The purpose of the experiment was to determine if a 

concrete slump test is an accurate way to test the strength 

of uncured lightweight concrete. The ASTM procedure 

number for a slump test is C143A. Previous research 

and observations showed that the use of a slump test 

with lightweight concrete could have some faults, due to 

the texture and other features of the aggregates in the 

lightweight concrete. Three slump tests were performed 

using perlite, vermiculite, and pea gravel aggregate 

mixtures. The slump averages of each aggregate mix 

were compared to the average compressive strengths 

of the aggregates from previously cured cylinders. The 

hypothesis was that if these lightweight aggregates are 

used in a concrete slump test, then the slump test would 

not be accurate in relation to the compressive strength 

of the concrete. The vermiculite had a slump of 1/2 in. 

(13 mm) and a relative compressive strength of 48.5 

psi/ lb (736.2 kPa/kg), the perlite had a slump of 1/4 in. 

(6 mm) with a strength of 195.96 psi/ lb (2974.7 kPa/kg), 

and finally the pea gravel had a slump of 5 2/3 in. (144 

mm) with a strength of 181.5 psi/ lb (2755.2 kPa/kg). 

The hypothesis was supported. The slump tests are not 

accurate in relation to the relative compressive strengths. 

The results demonstrated that slump tests are not a good 

test of strength for lightweight concrete. 

Poster Board No. 025 THE EFFECT OF IRON ON CARBON 

SEQUESTRATION IN FRESHWATER DIATOMS. Samer Alkhalili, 

samer.alkhalili@gmail.com, 4691 fairway Lane, Sylvania Ohio 

43560 (Toledo Islamic Academy). 

The large increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) 

implies that CO 2 emissions exceed carbon sequestration. 

This project explores the effect of iron on the growth rate 

of freshwater diatoms. It is hypothesized that exposing 

diatoms to an optimal concentration of iron will produce 

the most growth in diatoms in a set period of time. Counted 

samples of diatoms were placed into six pairs of flasks, each 

set of two containing a different dilution - a control group 

with no iron added, 1nM, 5nM, 10nM, 50nM and 100nM 

- of iron-enhanced spring water solution at 23 °C. Over 

a period of 14 days, well-mixed samples from each flask 

were taken on days 1,3,5,9,11, and 14 and diatoms counted 

using a Neubauer Counting Chamber under a compound 

microscope. The number of diatoms per milliliter in each 

flask was determined and then converted into overall 

percent increase. The level of carbon dioxide in parts per 

million (ppm) was measured using the Control Wizard 

CO2 Test kit on days 1 and 14 for each of the control and 

50nM iron solution. For accuracy, three replications of the 

experiment were conducted. The 50nM concentration of 

iron produced a 77% decrease in the level of carbon dioxide 

on Day 14 compared to Day 1, while the control produced a 

31% decrease. The 5nM concentration of iron produced the 

most growth in diatoms, accounting for a total increase of 

182% on average. Both the 10nM and 50nM solutions were 

moderately effective, producing a 167% and 166% growth 

increase, respectively. The 100nM solution was the least 

effective with only an increase of 114%. The control and the


Vol. 112(1) 

1nM solutions produced a limited growth with only 143% 

and 147% increases, respectively. These results imply 

that diatoms can react to small amounts of iron in their 

environment and the optimal concentration to remove the 

most carbon dioxide from the atmosphere was around 5 

nM. These findings suggest that iron fertilization may be 

adopted as a carbon sequestration strategy. 

Poster Board No. 026 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SOLAR 

DISINFECTION METHOD (SODIS) IN TREATING CONTAMINATED 

WATER. Osama Alkhalili, osamaalkhalili8@yahoo.com, 4691 

Fairway Lane, Sylvania Ohio 43560 (Maumee Valley Country 

Day School). 

The lack of access to safe drinking water in undeveloped 

nations demands finding affordable water-disinfection 

methods. This project investigates the effectiveness 

of the solar disinfection method (SODIS) in treating 

contaminated water. It is hypothesized that exposing 

contaminated water to sunlight for a specific time will 

be effective in disinfecting the contaminated water. All 

tools were sterilized by boiling prior to collecting a water 

sample from Lake Olander in Sylvania, Ohio. Two clean 

16-oz PET plastic bottles were filled with the lake water, 

placed onto a dark, metal sheet beneath a lamp with a 

Daylight Blue Reptile bulb and exposed to UV-A light at 

350 nm for 12 and 24 hours, respectively. A third PET 

bottle was filled with filtered lake water using a Whitman 

Filter Paper and exposed to UV-A light for 24 hours. One 

cup of the lake water was boiled for 15 minutes. Samples 

were cultured on tryptic soy agar plates. Bacterial colonies 

in each plate were counted after 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours. 

The entire experiment was repeated two additional times. 

In the untreated sample, the average numbers of bacterial 

colonies were 95, 170, 320, and 500 at 24, 48, 72, and 96 

hours, respectively. Boiled sample showed no bacterial 

growth over the 96-hour period. The 12-hour SODIS sample 

resulted in an average bacterial growth of 30, 45, 75 and 

130 colonies at 24, 36, 48 and 96 hours, respectively. The 

unfiltered 24-hour SODIS sample resulted in an average 

bacterial growth of 5, 8, 12, and 22 colonies at 24, 48, 

72, and 96 hours, respectively, while the filtered 24-hour 

sample had 2, 4,7, and 12 colonies at 24, 48, 72, and 96 

hours, respectively. Results showed that boiling is the most 

effective method for disinfecting contaminated water. The 

SODIS method could be fairly effective, if optimal exposure 

time is used. The turbidity of the water may reduce the 

efficiency of the SODIS method, which can be corrected 

easily by water filtration. These findings suggest that the 

SODIS can be adopted as a water-disinfection method 

in undeveloped nations that do not have the means and 

infrastructures to clean and disinfect their drinking water. 

Poster Board No. 027 THE EFFECTS OF GREEN MATERIALS 

UTILIzED AS ABSORBENTS IN OIL SPILL CLEAN UP. Hannah A. 

Barlow, mbarlow25@yahoo.com, 7245 zwickle Rd., Logan OH 

43138. (Logan-Hocking Middle School) 

This project began out of concern over the 2010 Gulf 

of Mexico oil spill cleanup efforts, to determine which 

materials would best absorb oil. It was hypothesized that 

“green” materials could be used to effectively absorb oil. 

Materials used were 1.5 cattail seed heads, 2 corn cobs, 4 

pine cones (Spruce), and 1 cup (227kg) Lake Huron zebra 

mussel shells. These “green” materials were crushed to 

measure one-half cup (113kg), and then placed into each 

of the one cup (227kg) capacity funnels with 6 ½ inch 

(16.5cm) necks. Next, one-half cup (118ml) of used motor 

oil was poured into each of the funnels to drain into one 

cup (250ml) glass beakers. Cattail seed heads absorbed 2.5 

oz. (75ml) of oil or approximately 60%. Corn cobs absorbed 

2.02 oz. (60 ml) of oil or approximately 50%. Pine cones 

absorbed .51 oz. (15ml) or approximately 13%. Zebra 

mussel shells absorbed .34oz. (10ml) or approximately 

less than 1%. These results indicate that it would take 

approximately 3 cattails to absorb one cup (236ml) of oil. 

Based on 16 cups (3784ml) per 1 gallon, it would take 48 

cattails to absorb one gallon of oil, and therefore 2,016 

cattails per barrel of oil based on a 42 gallon barrel. Since 

60,000 barrels of oil were leaked daily during the 2010 Gulf 

oil spill, it would take approximately 120,960,000 cattails 

to absorb one days worth of oil from the Gulf oil spill, or 

11,007,360,000 cattails to absorb the 91 days worth of oil 

spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. This research demonstrates 

that green technology could be considered and used as an 

environmentally sound solution for future oil spills. 


Poster Board No. 033 AQUATIC OIL SPILL CLEAN-UP. Abigail 

L Myers, myersa13@embarqmail.com, 4251 N County Line 

Rd, Sunbury, OH 43074 (Big Walnut Middle School) 

Oil produced offshore to meet energy needs is transported 

through aquatic environments. In offshore drilling and 

production (e.g., BP Deepwater Horizon) and oil transport 

(e.g., Exxon Valdez), accidental spills occur. Therefore, 

cleaning up spills is necessary – one method is to use 

sorbents. For a sorbent to be successful in an aquatic 

environment, it must have a high level of oleophilicity and 

be hydrophobic. Absorption and adsorption are processes 

that can remove oil from water. Through absorption, oil fills 

in cavities in the sorbent and through adsorption oil sticks 

to the material surface. This experiment investigated how 

well synthetic (polypropylene, polyurethane, and polyester) 

and organic (cotton, straw, and sawdust) sorbents remove 

oil from water by absorption and/or adsorption. Initial 

research led to the hypothesis: synthetic sorbents would 

remove more oil than natural organic sorbents, with 

polypropylene being the best. Each sorbent (1.5g) was 

placed into a beaker containing an oil slick (20 ml) floating 

on the water surface (150 ml), timed (5 min), and removed. 

The masses of used sorbent and fluids were determined, 

and volumes of remaining fluids were measured. The 

synthetic sorbents demonstrated greater effectiveness than 

natural organic sorbents, with a mean weight ratio (mass 

of oil removed to mass of sorbent used) of 9.5, compared 

to 7.9 for organic sorbents. Based on this experiment, 

polyester removed the most oil, with a weight ratio of 13.5, 

followed by cotton (12.2), polypropylene (9.4), sawdust 

(6.6), polyurethane (5.5) and straw (4.9). Additional work 

could include revised methods to simulate wave action. 

Poster Board No. 034 LEAD CONTENT OF SCHOOL DRINKING 

WATER. Halle A. Miller, millerbdhc@aol.com, 13684 Janell 

Drive, Columbia Station OH 44028 (Columbia High School) 

The goal of this project was to discover how the lead content 

of drinking water varied between school buildings of 

different ages. The objective was to determine if there was 

a direct correlation between school age and the lead content 

of its drinking water. The hypothesis was that if a school is 

older, the lead content of the drinking water will be greater 

because of different piping and soldering methods used in 

the past. Three water samples were collected from each of 

ten different public high schools from a restroom sink. Each 

sample was collected from a faucet running cold water and 

the test tubes were sealed with Parafilm. A stopwatch was 

used to time thirty seconds between samples. The samples 

were tested at the Avon Lake Water Filtration Plant, with 

help from a qualified scientist, using the graphite furnace 

of an Atomic-Absorption Spectrometer. Standard samples 

were analyzed for calibration and then conducted on Test 

Group #1. A blank sample was run to recalibrate the 

machine and the process was repeated for Test Group #2 

and then Test Group #3. The standard deviation results in 

parts per billion (site one 2.68ppb, site two 0.40ppb, site 

three 0.35ppb, site four 0.91ppb, site five 9.45ppb, site six 

0.38 ppb, site seven 9.45ppb, site eight 0.68ppb, site nine 

0.17ppb, site ten 0.69ppb), were under the EPA specified 

15ppb. However, some of the raw samples reached levels 

of 20.0ppb and 25.3ppb. The results were found to support 

the hypothesis, on average. The schools built before 1967 

had greater lead contents, on average, and the schools 

built during or after 1967 had little to no lead detected in

Vol. 112(1) 

the averaged samples. In conclusion, the age of a building 

does affect the lead content of its drinking water. 

Poster Board No. 035 THE OPTIMAL OIL ABSORBANT CLEAN- 

UP ANALYSIS Mitchell K. Pallaki mcorrigan@metrohealth.org 

Saint Raphael School, Bay Village, Ohio 44140 

Oil spills are dangerous and economically devastating. 

This study evaluates which substance will absorb/adsorb 

the most oil in salt versus fresh water, and therefore, be the 

optimal method for oil spill clean-up.It was hypothesized 

that booms made of natural substances, such as hair and 

dog fur, when tested in a water-to-oil solution of a constant 

concentration might perform better at absorbing oil than 

polypropylene, the industry standard. Booms tested in 

salt water will absorb more oil than in fresh water baths. 

N=20 fresh water trials and N=20 salt water trials using 

40-19g booms. They were prepared from each of the 

following substances: hair, dog fur, dryer lint, polystyrene, 

polypropylene and peat moss. Each were tested to 

determine the booms’ absorptive properties in simulated 

oil baths of both fresh and salt water. Booms were placed 

in oil:water baths with a 750:100 ml ratio for 5 minutes 

and removed. The remaining oil and water volume was 

measured and subtracted from the original volume, and 

the amount of oil and water absorbed was calculated. The 

percentage of oil absorbed to the total amount of liquid in 

the Fresh Water Bath is as follows: Hair 84%, Dog Fur 84%, 

Peat moss 80%, Polypropylene 79%, Polystyrene 75%, Lint 

10%.The percentage of oil absorbed to the total amount of 

liquid in the Salt Water Bath is as follows: Dog Fur 99%, 

Polypropylene 97%, Peat moss 93%, Polystyrene 77%, Hair 

74%, Lint 13%.The average oil absorption in the salt water 

and fresh water for the various substances were similar. 

The polypropylene, hair, and dog fur ab/adsorbed the most 

oil. Boom efficiency was better in each case in salt water, 

except for hair. Dog fur efficiency exceeded polypropylene 

in both environments. According to this study, dog fur is 

the optimal, environmentally friendly substance for oil 

spill clean-up. 

Poster Board No. 036 ROE CELL PROCESSING. Takeisha L. 

Hankins, thankins@noblesolutions.org, Thurgood Marshall 

High School, Dayton OH 45417 

Roe has been identified as an alternative resource for laser 

and optical based sensor materials. For example, roe cells 

that have been sonicated are in high use for laser based 

electronics such as higher performance systems required 

for information gathering, transmission, processing storage 

and display for control of weapons systems and for energy 

generation and direction concepts in aircrafts. This project 

was designed to test roe cells and their capability to break 

down into smaller molecules using the probe sonicator. 

Through DNA processing roe is sonicated, filtered, mixed 

with CTMA (Hexadecyltnmethylammoniumchloride), 

purified, and dissolved in butanol. There is a great 

demand for roe cells that have completed this process. It 

is hypothesized that if roe cells are broken into smaller 

molecules with a probe sonicator then the molecular weight 

will be much smaller.Continuous trials of sonicating roe 

cells for 10 cycles revealed diverse changes in molecular 

weight. For the first week of data, the molecular weight 

appears to be around 500kDa and 1300kDa. The goal was 

to get a molecular weight of 200kDa in the third trial, 

which was achieved through 15 cycles of sonication. 

Poster Board No. 037 ANALYSIS OF NUTRITIVE VALUES OF 

PSEUDO-CEREALS, CEREALS & LEGUMES Kanithra Chandra 

Sekaran, sandalraj@gmail.com 7345 Popham Place, Solon, 

OH 44139 (Solon High School) 

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nutritional 

profile (lipid, protein and carbohydrate content) of three 

different food categories such as legumes - Horse gram 

(HG), cereals –Rye (RY), and pseudo-cereals -White 

Quinoa (WQ) & Red Quinoa (RQ). The hypothesis of 


this study is that HG has the highest protein, lowest 

carbohydrate and lipid content followed by WQ, RQ and 

RY. This was tested by a solubility test using the solvents 

methylene chloride and hexane. The lipid content of each 

of the grains was quantified after separating the lipids 

using a non-polar solvent i.e., hexane. The nature of the 

lipid (saturated or unsaturated) was determined using 

Br 2 -acetic acid solution test. Qualitative analysis of lipids 

was performed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) 

and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The 

quantity of protein content was determined via a Biuret 

test and UV-visible spectroscopy. The relative abundance 

of the simple carbohydrate content was determined by 

Benedict’s solution and the complex carbohydrates by I 2 

test. Quantitative analysis of the lipid content revealed 

that HG < RY < WQ < RQ. Un-saturation was compared 

with that of fish oil (control) using Br 2 -acetic acid solution 

test, in which numbers of drops of Br2–acetic acid solution 

consumed by the lipids extracted from each food item were 

compared. This provides an insight on the magnitude of 

un-saturation. On analysis it was found that HG < RY < 

WQ < RQ due to the lowest lipid content in HG. Qualitative 

analysis of the oils using IR & NMR techniques revealed 

that structure of the organic compounds present in oils 

were similar. IR spectral analysis identify the presence of 

functional groups like alkenes (1462.56 cm -1 ), carboxyl group 

(3016.28 cm -1 ) in unsaturated fatty acids, alkanes (722.61 

cm -1 & 1376.88 cm -1 ) along with C—H stretch (2927.79 cm -1 

& 3016.28 cm -1 ). The peaks in the 1 H and 13 C NMR spectra of 

the lipids were similar to those for omega-3 fatty acids in fish 

oil. Analysis using Biuret Test and UV-visible spectroscopy 

showed WQ < HG < RQ < RY. The mean protein concentration 

was 2.61 x 10 -2 g/1g for HG, 6.03 x 10 -3 g/1g of rye, 2.77 x 

10 - 2 g/1g of WQ, and 1.24 x 10 -2 g/1 g of RQ. Analysis of 

simple carbohydrates using Benedict’s solution test indicates 

that Starch > RY > WQ > RQ > HG. These carbohydrates 

were compared using starch (control). Analysis of complex 

carbohydrates using I 2 -test indicated HG > RQ > WQ > RY 

> Starch. Identification of the nutritional profile of newer 

cereals, pseudo-cereals & legumes will help in the design of 

suitable diets for people with nutritional problems. 

Poster Board No. 038 COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT LUBRICANT 

SYSTEMS. Anna K. Mayo, mayo16@zoominternet.net, 309 

Township Road 1135, Proctorville OH 45669. (Chesapeake 

HS) 

The purpose of this study was to test the lubricating 

performance of oils of equal viscosity (n= 4; base 10W oil, 

synthetic oil, hydraulic oil, and gear oil). The hypothesis 

was that a revolving wheel would revolve the longest, 

and would withstand the greatest amount of torque, 

when lubricated with synthetic oil. A viscosity test was 

performed on each of the oils to confirm equal viscosity 

levels. A revolving wheel machine was constructed using 

a drill motor, metal rings and plates. A small metal block 

was mounted into the revolving wheel. Using one sample 

of oil at a time, 3 drops of oil were applied to the revolving 

wheel using a medicine dropper. The wheel revolved 15 

seconds, and then torque was applied. Torque was applied 

again 15 seconds later. The procedure was repeated until 

the wheel seized. The experiment was repeated four times, 

and results were averaged. Test results were: dry wheel 1 

minute, 13 seconds; hydraulic oil 2 minutes 3 seconds; gear 

oil 2 minutes 27 seconds; base oil 2 minutes 31 seconds; 

and synthetic oil 3 minutes, 29 seconds. Torque results 

were: dry wheel 4.5 lbs/ft.; hydraulic oil 5.2 lbs/ft.; gear 

oil 5.5 lbs/ft.; base oil 5.9 lbs/ft.; and synthetic oil 7.1 lbs/ 

ft. When lubricated with synthetic oil, the wheel ran the 

longest, and withstood the greatest amount of torque. 

Poster Board No. 039 REGULATION OF PAXILLIN TYROSINE 

88 PHOSPHORYLATION IN THE CELL CYCLE. Sara R. Spain 

sspain13@hb.edu, 24290 Letchworth Rd., Beachwood, OH 

44122; Anthony, J., Scott ajs181@case.edu and zhenghe 

Wang zxw22@case.edu , Case Western Reserve University 

Department of Genetics. (Hathaway Brown) 

Paxillin, an adaptor protein involved in signaling from


Vol. 112(1) 

focal adhesions, is an oncogene. Its activity is regulated 

by tyrosine phosphorylation, and data show the tumor 

suppressor PTPRT dephosphorylates Paxillin at tyrosine 

88 (Y88). Since PTPRT suppresses colorectal cancer 

growth, Paxillin Y88 phosphorylation levels are higher in 

the tumor than in matched normal control tissue. To study 

the implications of this phosphorylation event, tyrosine 

88 was mutated to phenylalanine (Y88F), which cannot 

be phosphorylated. Accordingly, Y88F mutants were less 

tumorigenic, growing 20% more slowly than control cells 

in cell culture, displaying a 71% reduction of anchorage 

independent growth, and completely unable to form tumors 

in nude mice. However, why Paxillin PY88 is tumorgenic is 

still unknown. Since data show that mutants experience 

a 10-fold increase in abnormal cytokinetic events and 

occurrence of multinucleated cells (N = 214 parental cells, 

161 Y88F mutant cells), it is hypothesized that Paxillin 

PY88 has a role in the cell cycle. To test this hypothesis, 

HCT 116 colon cancer cells were arrested at various 

stages of the cell cycle to determine Paxillin PY88 levels. 

Three Western Blot results (n=1) show that Paxillin Y88 

phosphorylation occurs preferentially during mitosis. 

Western Blot results (n=1) also show that SRC kinase, 

an oncogene involved in mitosis, phosphorylates Paxillin 

PY88. Ultimately, understanding the role of Paxillin PY88 

in the cell cycle will better explain how PY88 is tumorigenic. 

Poster Board No. 040 SEROTONIN (5 HT) ANTAGONISTS EFFECT 

ON MDA - 2B31 BREAST CANCER CELL PROLIFERATION. Aarti 

Kumar 1 , kumarhome@yahoo.com, Dr. Laura Hernandez, 2 , 

Ekta Yadav 2 1 William Mason High School, 2 University of 

Cincinnati, 4637 Forest Ridge Drive, Mason, OH 45040 

Today, approximately 13.4% of women will develop 

breast cancer in their lifetime. Breast cancer is the 

uncontrolled cell growth of regular epithelial cells forming 

a malignant tumor through mutations or gene changes. 

Serotonin (5-HT) a signaling molecule also known as 

5-hydroxytryptophan is significant in the processes of 

the mammary gland. Alteration in 5-HT production and 

tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1) enzyme activity leads 

to enhanced proliferation of breast cancer cells, which is 

opposite to what occurs normally. The project hypothesis 

was that if the 5HT receptors: 5HTR2B and 5HTR1D are 

blocked with receptor antagonist treatments; there will 

be less MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation and less Cyclin D1 

or mRNA gene expression. The methodology included cell 

culture of MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells, RNA isolation/ 

cDNA synthesis, reverse transcription, MTT Assay, and 

Quantitative PCR (qPCR). Based on the MTT Assay, the 

5HTR1D antagonist proved to be more effective, decreasing 

proliferation of MDA-MB231 cells by more than 37% at 

a concentration of 100 µm. This analysis is statistically 

valid because the T-Test was 0.0007 (< 0.05). The 5HTR2B 

antagonist decreased Cyclin D1 gene expression from 1.1 to 

0.01 relative fold differences at an antagonist concentration 

of 100 µm. This indicates a 5HTR2B treatment effectively 

reduces the amount of Cyclin D1 gene expression. These 

results support the hypothesis that Cyclin D1 expression 

decreases and breast cancer cell proliferation decreases 

after antagonist treatment. 

Poster Board No. 041 THE REGULATION OF METABOLIC 

INFLAMMATION BY MACROPHAGE KLF2. Yasemin Cobanoglu, 

ycobanoglu14@gmail.com, Wendy A. Goodman, Yoichi 

Takami, Nikunj Sharma, Ganapati H. Mahabaleshwar, G. 

Brandon Atkins, Mukesh K. Jain, Case Western Reserve 

University, Dept of Medicine, Cleveland OH 44106. (Hathaway 

Brown) 

Metabolic inflammation is associated with obesityinduced 

insulin resistance and enhanced susceptibility 

to atherosclerosis. Insulin resistance is a chronic 

inflammatory condition mediated by activated, tissueresident 

macrophages. These macrophages accumulate 

in the liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue, and 

secrete pro-inflammatory mediators to cause tissue 

dysfunction. Current studies explore the role of Kruppel- 

like Factor 2 (KLF2), a zinc-finger transcription factor, in 

modifying metabolic inflammation in vivo. The basis of 

the hypothesis states that macrophage KLF2 regulates 

metabolic inflammation via repressive effects on NFκB. 

Mac-KLF2 ∆/∆ mice develop accelerated obesity when placed 

on a high-fat diet, gaining an average of 28.7g±0.8g during 

20 weeks of high-fat feeding, compared to control mice 

which gained an average of 22.1g±0.6g (p

Vol. 112(1) 

to quantify the expression of immune response indicator 

interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and transitively, the malaria 

parasite as IFN-γ is secreted in the immune response 

to the malaria parasite. Whereas cytokine ELISA is a 

method used to measure the concentration of the cytokine, 

and transitively the antibody concentration, through 

colorimetric methods, EliSpot measures the number 

of cells secreting IFN-γ in the sample. This analysis 

compared the results of samples tested using both assays to 

determine percent of concordance, and it was hypothesized 

that high concordance would result. A positive sample 

was deemed as that in which the measured absorbance 

exceeded one and a half times the positive control in 

ELISA and spot count exceeded the same in ELIspot. 

The rate of concordance was found to be roughly 68.4% 

(N=100) across all nine tested antigens, including those of 

Merozoite Surface Protein-1 and Plasmodium falciparum 

P0 Ribosomal Phosphoprotein. Most concordant was found 

to be Schizont and RBC, each with 100% concordant, and 

least concordant MSP1-42 (3D7), with 52.4% concordant. 

The results supported the hypothesis, showing that the 

correlation existed, indicating that there was concordance 

between the two assays testing for malaria sensitivity. 


Poster Board No. 049 A STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF 

SPHERICAL HDL’S STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN REGARDS 

TO CHOLESTEROL REGULATION IN THE BODY. Nayab F. 

Habib, nhabib13@hb.edu, Thomas Tallant, tallant@ccf.org, 

24035 Wimbledon Road Shaker Heights OH, 44122, Dept 

of Microbiology, Dept of Preventive Cardiology, Cleveland 

Clinic. (Hathaway Brown School) 

High Density Lipoprotein’s (HDL) function is to transport 

cholesterol from the body’s peripheral tissues to the 

digestive tract for re-utilization or excretion. HDL is 

not only injected with cholesterol from the peripheral 

cells but also with cholesterol-ester from Low Density 

Lipoproteins (LDL) catalyzed by the enzyme Lethicin:C 

holesterol:Acetyltransferace (LCAT). By completing this 

transfer, the ultimate goal is to study the role of HDL in 

certain biological functions, such as cholesterol transport, 

reverse cholesterol transport, and its effectiveness as 

an anti-inflammatory agent relating cardiovascular 

diseases. Beginning with nHDL, containing very little 

cholesterol, an enzyme, ATP-binding cassette transporter 

(ABC A1) facilitated the movement of cholesterol from the 

peripheral tissue cells into the HDL particle. The particle 

matured by receiving large amounts of cholesterol in the 

form of cholesterol-ester from LDL and became large and 

round, hence the term sHDL. nHDL and isolated LDL were 

obtained from plasma, then purified LCAT enzyme catalyzed 

the transfer of cholesterol-ester from LDL into nHDL to 

assemble sHDL. The efficiency of the cholesterol-ester 

transfer was determined by radiometric enzyme assays. It 

was hypothesized that enzymatic assays would show that 

99% of the time the transfer being successfully complete 

determined by the activity of radioactive isotopes. About 20 

radiometric assays were conducted and 97% of the time there 

was a strong presence of radioactive isotopes, expressing 

that the transfer had been completed thus supporting the 

hypothesis. By making different mutant versions of ApoA1 

synthetically, nHDL can be made from the various ApoA1 

proteins and ultimately, specific biological functions of these 

mutants can be determined, a step crucial in understanding 

the existence of certain diseases and specifically designing 

drugs to target them. 

Poster Board No. 050 THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE 

POTENCY OF AMOXICILLIN. Colleen M. Fazio, colleenfaz555@ 

aol.com, 2395 Flyway Court, Beavercreek OH, 45431, (Carroll 

High School) 

This experiment demonstrates how heat affects the 

potency of diluted reconstituted amoxicillin over time. It 


was hypothesized that at higher storage temperatures, 

amoxicillin is less effective on Escherichia coli, ATCC 

25922 – a strain commonly used for experimentation. The 

diluted amoxicillin was stored at four temperatures: -70°C, 

4°C, 22°C, and 37°C, for 1, 3, 6, 14, and 20 days. After 

the storage time, the potency of the amoxicillin was tested 

using a Petri dish with E. coli coated agar. A filter paper 

disk was immersed in the diluted amoxicillin, placed on the 

agar, and incubated at 37°C for 24 hours. The clear area 

around the filter paper disk, void of E. coli growth, was 

measured and recorded. Results supported the hypothesis. 

Data for samples stored at 4°C, 22°C, and 37°C from each 

of the sample days were base-lined on the results at -70 o C. 

An increase in area around the filter paper indicated a 

higher antibiotic potency. At 4 o C the area around the filter 

paper increased 6% over the baseline area on Day 1, but 

decreased 13% on Day 3, 18% on Day 6, 6% on Day 14, 

and 4% on Day 20. At 22 o C there was an 8% increased 

on Day 1, 4% decrease on Day 3, 9% increase on Day 6, 

and a 6% decrease on Days 14 and 20, and at 37 o C, data 

revealed a 20% increase on Day 1, 2% increase on Day 3, 

and a decrease of 7% on Day 6, 34% on Day 14, and a 40% 

on Day 20. 

Poster Board No. 051 CONSTRUCTION OF A HIV-1 ENVELOPE 

EXPRESSING CLONE. Preeya Shankar, preeya.shankar@ 

sbcglobal.net 1 , Yuejin Li 2 , yxl111@cwru.edu, 1 16500 Parkland 

Drive, Shaker Heights OH, 44120 (Hathaway Brown School) 

and 2 Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, 

Cleveland OH, 44106 

HIV-1 envelope protein (env) is an important immunogen 

in eliciting humoral immune response and is an important 

candidate protein for HIV-1 vaccine development. The goal 

of this work is to further HIV vaccine development research 

by experimenting with the HIV envelope protein (gp160), 

which is a vital protein in the process of infection of the human 

body by HIV. A yeast-based homologous recombination 

technique was used to construct a plasmid expressing HIV-1 

env. The full length env gene from plasmid pREC-HIV-nfl- 

NL4-3 was PCR amplified and was inserted into pREC-HIVgag-URA3-3’LTR 

by replacing the URA3 gene through the 

yeast-based homologous recombination. The constructed 

clone was named pREC-HIV-gag-env-His-puro-3’LTR. A 

His-tag gene was inserted into the 3-’end of the env gene in 

order to purify the expressed protein. A puromycin resistance 

gene was inserted downstream of the env gene to establish 

stable expression of the protein. The constructed clone with 

the envelope protein insertion was verified through PCR 

testing and gene sequencing. After transfection to the 293t 

cells for 48 hours, the envelope protein (gp160) was detected 

in the cell lysate through Western blot analysis, showing 

the results that the clone was functional and the envelope 

protein was expressed. For selection of stable expression cell 

clones, the plasmid was transfected with plasmids pREC- 

HIV-5’LTR-gag-pol-mu, R8.91 and VSV-G. These plasmids 

complemented each other and produced a pseudotyped 

virus in the transfection supernatant. In the next step, the 

pseudotyped virus will infect the 293t cell again. The virus 

gene will be integrated into the genome of the host cell and 

will constantly express the env protein. Puromycin (1ug/ml) 

will be added to the cell culture and the puromycin resistant 

cells will be selected and enriched. The protein expression 

will continue to be detected, and the expressed protein will be 

purified through His-tag binding chromatography. 

Poster Board No. 052 DO DOGS’ OR HUMANS’ MOUTHS HAVE 

MORE BACTERIA? Wesley R. Wolf, joan@gahosp.com, 1976 

Shinkles Ridge Road, Georgetown OH 45121. (Georgetown 

Elementary School) 

This experiment was designed to test whether dogs’ or 

humans’ mouths contain more bacterial colony forming 

units (CFUs). It was hypothesized that young dogs would 

have fewer CFUs than young humans because of dietary 

differences. Due to humans having a higher level of dental 

hygiene, it was hypothesized that senior humans would 

have fewer CFUs than senior dogs. There were 6 test


Vol. 112(1) 

groups, each containing 4 subjects; young humans (0-17 

years), adult humans (18-55 years), senior humans (56- 

100 years), young dogs (0-1 year), adult dogs (2-6 years) 

and senior dogs (7-20 years). A sterile swab was rolled on 

the roof of each subject’s mouth and was plated on a blood 

agar plate using the serial streak plating method to reduce 

the number of colonies to a countable level. The plates 

were incubated in a bacterial culture incubator at 101ºF. 

The colonies in quadrant 4 on each plate were counted at 

48 hours of incubation. The dogs had 22 colonies and the 

humans had 92 colonies. The mean number of colonies for 

the dogs was 1.83, and 91.67% of the samples fell within 1 

standard deviation (+/- 3.21 colonies). The mean number of 

colonies for the humans was 7.67, and 75% of the samples 

fell within 1 standard deviation (+/- 7.09 colonies). Standard 

deviation confirmed that the dogs had significantly fewer 

CFUs in their mouths than the humans. Young dogs had 

more CFUs than young humans, 16 versus 12, and senior 

dogs had fewer CFUs than senior humans, 4 versus 37. 

Poster Board No. 053 EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF FOXO3A, 

A TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR ASSOCIATED WITH MUSCLE 

ATROPHY IN RUNT PIGLETS,. Sachin R Rudraraju, sachin. 

rudraraju@gmail.com,3938 Hampshire Ave, Powell OH 

43065, (Olentangy Liberty High School). 

Foxo3a is a transcription-factor implicated in muscle 

atrophy. The purpose was to identify the difference 

between the expression of Foxo3a in runt piglets versus 

normal piglets using immunohistochemistry. It was 

hypothesized that Foxo3a was expressed more in runt 

piglets than in normal piglets. Tissue samples from three 

pairs of piglets were used. Each pair contained one runt 

and one normal piglet from the same litter. Two slides 

were prepared for each piglet, using antibodies for Foxo3a 

and pFoxo3a, the inactive form. A Hematoxylin stain 

was used for background staining. Foxo3a and pFoxo3a 

Primary-Antibodies anneal to the transcription-factor. 

A Biotinylated-Universal-Secondary-Antibody anneals 

to the Primary-Antibody and is stained brown by a DAB 

wash. In the resulting slides, bundles of muscle fibers 

were clearly visible. In each bundle, one larger type-2 fiber 

was surrounded by several smaller type-1 fibers. Type-2 

fibers are more metabolically active than type-1 fibers and 

provide quick bursts of high output. Qualitative analysis of 

the images suggests that pFoxo3a was stained more in the 

normal piglets than the runts, especially in localized type 

2 fibers. RGB values sampled from the images support this 

finding. This leads to the conclusion that type-2 fibers in 

runt piglets are being degenerated to a higher extent than 

the same fibers in normal piglets. Runt piglets lose this 

important source of metabolic activity, which may be a 

cause for metabolic health disorders in later life. Western 

blotting can be used to further study these proteins 

quantitatively, 

Poster Board No. 054 DO THE DOCTORS WHO PRACTICE 

AT SOUTHERN OHIO MEDICAL CENTER OR THE TEACHERS 

AT WHEELERSBURG LOCAL SCHOOLS HAVE MORE 

CONTAMINANTS ON THEIR CELL PHONE? Mary M. Martin, 

mmmarymarlene99@gmail.com , 7613 Sun Hill Drive, 

Portsmouth OH 45662. (Wheelersburg High School) 

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether 

the cell phones belonging to doctors who practice at 

Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC) or the cell phones 

belonging to Wheelersburg High School teachers contained 

more contaminants. The hypothesis was that doctors’ cell 

phones would contain more contaminants than those 

of teachers. To test the hypothesis, fifteen teachers’ and 

fifteen doctors’ cell phones were individually swabbed 

over all surfaces of the cell phone using sterile swabs. The 

participants filled out a short questionnaire regarding cell 

phone usage during work hours. Each participant’s cell 

phone was swabbed and the swab used was immediately 

transferred onto a five percent sheep blood agar. Sterile 

gloves were worn and changed for each participant. After 

repeating the process with each participant, the agars 

were kept at room temperature. Following seven days of 

growth, the agars were assessed by Dr. Cassity at SOMC 

to identify and count the contaminants. In conclusion, 

the hypothesis was not supported as teachers had a total 

number of 598 contaminants while doctors only had 297 

colonies of contaminants. 211 contaminants discovered on 

teachers’ cell phones were abnormal skin flora, including, 

but not limited to, staphylococcus aureus and bacillus 

cereus, as well as 54 colonies discovered on doctors’ cell 

phones. The participating teachers saw, on average, 105 

students a day. Participating doctors saw an average of 20 

patients per day. 90% of the total participants do not wash 

their hands after using their cell phones on a regular basis. 

Poster Board No. 055 HISTONE MODIFICATIONS WITH MECP2. 

Shefali S. Shah, shefali100@yahoo.com, 469 Township Road 

1535, Proctorville OH 45669. (Fairland High School) 

Histone proteins coil DNA together into nucleosome 

structures leading to the formation of chromatin. Tightly 

bound nucleosomes promote gene repression, while loosely 

bound nucleosomes help activation of DNA transcription. 

Histones have an amino tail. MeCP2 can recognize 

histone H3 through its amino tail. By modifying histone 

tails and recruiting MeCP2, the compaction of chromatin 

changes. MeCP2, “methyl CpG binding protein 2,” is a 

protein responsible for histone compaction and is involved 

in normal brain functions. MeCP2 mutations cause Rett 

Syndrome, a genetic defect leading to mental retardation. 

This project tested whether MeCP2 can recognize modified 

histone H3. The histone H3 tails were modified at several 

different amino acids. Amino acids (Lysine 27, Lysine 9, 

Lysine 4) were modified by attaching a methyl or acetyl 

group. Then, using western blot, MeCP2’s ability to bind 

to the modified tails was tested. The hypothesis was 

that MeCP2 would recognize specific modifications of 

histones H3. The results showed that MeCP2 attaches to 

transcription repression markers: H3 Lysine 9 tri-methyl 

and H3 Lysine 27 di-methyl. It also attaches to H3 Lysine 

4 di-methyl (activation marker). MeCP2 does not attach 

to the transcription activation markers: H3K9/14 or H3K4 

me3. Nor does it attach to H3K27 me3 (repression marker). 

It appears that MeCP2 cannot differentiate between 

these activation and repression markers tested. Further 

tests will be required to investigate if MeCP2 activity is 

solely due to its interactions with histone H3 with a single 

modification or requires other partners to promote gene 

repression. 

Poster Board No. 056 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GARLIC 

OIL, THEIVES’ OIL, COLLOIDAL SILVER, AND AMOXICILLIN 

WITH CLAVULANIC ACID IN INHIBITING THE GROWTH 

OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND STAPHYLOCOCCUS 

EPIDERMIS WITHOUT INHIBITING THE GROWTH OF 

LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS. Alex C. Carrico, chriscarrico@ 

frontier.com, 1229 Bickel Church RD NW, Baltimore OH, 43105 

(Liberty Union High School) 

This study compares the effectiveness of garlic oil, 

colloidal silver, Thieves’ oil, and Amoxicillin with 

Clavulanic Acid in inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus 

aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis without harming 

Lactobacillus acidophilus. Thieves’ Oil is a combination 

of natural antibacterial agents such as lemon, cinnamon, 

and clove oil. Colloidal silver is hypothesized to be the 

most effective agent because it kills by decomposition, 

reacting with the oxygen in the bacterial cell wall. Garlic 

and olive oil were mixed in a 1:1 ratio for easy application. 

Before inoculation, circles of blotting paper were soaked 

in each agent to be used as sensitivity disks for a modified 

Kirby-Bauer test. Thirty µg Amoxicillin disks were used. 

Mueller Hinton agar was inoculated using Kirby Bauer 

inoculation with a 0.5 McFarland Turbidity Standard for 

the Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, 

and Lactobacillus acidophilus. After inoculation, one disk 

was applied to each dish and put into an incubator for 24 

hours. The zones of inhibition surrounding each disk were 

recorded after experimentation. The Amoxicillin had an

Vol. 112(1) 

average zone of 32 mm for Staphylococcus aureus, 35 mm for 

Staphylococcus epidermidis, and 26 mm for Lactobacillus 

acidophilus. The Thieves’ oil had an average zone of 15 

mm for Staphylococcus aureus, an average of 12 mm for 

Staphylococcus epidermidis, and no zone for Lactobacillus 

acidophilus. The colloidal silver and garlic oil had no zone 

for each trial and were therefore ineffective. This study 

demonstrates that alternative remedies may have efficacy 

in treating some antibiotic resistant infections. 

Poster Board No. 057 THE KEY ROLE OF ADRA1D IN MAKING 

B-BLOCKERS MORE EFFECTIVE. Peeyush Shrivastava, 6555 

Glenstone Way, Mason OH 45040 (Mason HS). 

The adrenergic receptors mediate the actions of 

norepinephrine and epinephrine throughout the body; 

stimulation of an adrenergic receptor occurs by epinephrine 

binding to an agonist. The myocardial response is a fatal 

increase in heart rate, known as a ventricular tachycardia 

(VT). The objective of this study is to identify the cause for 

the failure in beta-blocker treatments, and identify how to 

overcome the problem. ADRA1D was the variable of gene 

knockdown in this study because ADRA1D was the most 

unique receptor subtype, showing no fluctuations in cAMP, 

unlike other receptors. The efficiency of ADRA1D gene 

silencing was determined using Western Blot analysis 

in which cell lysate samples were loaded onto 12% SDS 

gels and then transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane. 

For the average of the three trials conducted for Sotalol, 

it appears that the control heart rate of the cardiac 

myocytes was reduced from the initial contraction rate 

of 131.67 bpm to 103 bpm with the applied non-selective 

beta-blocker. These data are consistent with the original 

purpose of experimentation considering the non-selective 

beta-blocker did not effectively reduce heart rate to below 

100 bpm. Furthermore, once ADRA1D was silenced 

through N-terminal encoded siRNA transfection, heart 

rate surmounted from the initial 131.67 bpm to 157.33 

bpm; the fact that the blocker was applied simultaneously 

as ADRA1D was silenced and heart rate still increased in 

the cardiac myocytes supports the hypothesis that the 30% 

of failure of beta-blockers to reduce heart rate in cardiac 

myocytes can be traced to the key role of ADRA1D. 

Poster Board No. 058 ATTACHING MOLECULES TO COWPEA 

MOSAIC VIRUS FOR APPLICATIONS IN DRUG DELIVERY. 

Aparna Narendrula aparna.n.14@gmail.com, (Nicole F. 

Steinmetz, nfs11@case.edu) 34240 Seminole Way, Solon OH 

44139 (Hathaway Brown School) 

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America. 

Chemotherapy, the leading cancer treatment, treats 

cancer with chemicals destroying cancer cells. It does not 

differentiate between cancer and healthy cells, therefore 

results in harmful side effects. Through nanomedicine, 

nanoparticles deliver therapeutics to cancer while avoiding 

healthy tissues, increasing therapy and decreasing side 

effects. The goal of this research is to see if organic and 

benign plant viral nanoparticle cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), 

can be used as a vehicle to carry drugs to target areas. The 

hypothesis is CPMV will bind cancer specific targeting 

proteins. To test this hypothesis, a sample of CPMV was 

purified and modified by attaching Oregon Green 488®, 

which was used to image and detect the particles in cells, and 

biotin, which served as a molecular handle to bind cancer 

specific targeting proteins. These CPMV nanoparticles were 

produced in cowpea plants and isolated from infected leaves 

through centrifugation and chemistry; concentration was 

determined using UV-Vis spectroscropy: a peak at protein’s 

absorbance indicated CPMV’s presence (0.401 absorbance). 

Once purified, these nanoparticles were synthesized with the 

dye; agarose and SDS gels and UV-Vis spectroscopy affirmed 

the presence of Oregon Green 488® (there was a peak (0.021) 

at the dye’s absorbance spectrum). There were 51 and 45 

dyes per particle for the samples. Biotin was attached and 

confirmed with a stained and unstained agarose gel and a dot 

blot. This unit was used to target cancer cells. This technology 

has the potential to replace chemotherapy in treating cancer. 


Poster Board No. 059 IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL 

IDENTIFICATION OF CELLS IN THE RESPIRATORY RHYTHM- 

GENERATING CENTER OF THE DEVELOPING RAT BRAIN. 

Jennifer L. Jones 1 , jlhbjones@sbcglobal.net, Catherine A. 

Mayer 2 , caa4@case.edu, Christopher G. Wilson 2 , cgw5@ 

case.edu, 1 2201 Chatfield Dr., Cleveland Heights OH 44106 

(Hathaway Brown School) and 2 Dept. of Pediatrics, Case 

Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland OH 44106. 

Episodes of apnea that can lead to long-term respiratory 

morbidities are one of the major problems faced by 

premature infants in neonatal intensive care units. 

This project investigated the developmental changes in 

expression of the underlying neurotransmitters and neural 

network using immunohistochemistry. The regions of the 

brain responsible for respiration have been extensively 

studied in the rat. The regulation of mammalian respiration 

by the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine evolves 

during early brain development. Activating adenosine A 2A 

receptors can induce apnea in young rats, but not in rats 

older than postnatal day 21 (P21). Sprague Dawley rats 

were studied at ages P0, P4, P7, P14, and P21. Brainstem 

tissue sections (20 µm) were taken and immunostained for 

neural and astrocytic marker proteins (NK1, NeuN, A 2A, 

GAD, and S100β) taking 5 samples of each age/protein 

combination. Commercially manufactured primary 

antibodies were used to characterize cell types (Millipore 

AB5060, Millipore MAB377, Genway GWB-32D8EE, 

Millipore MAB5406, and Abcam AB4066 respectively). 

The stained sections were viewed by a camera attached 

to a light microscope, and the images analyzed by 

Stereology Resource Center unbiased stereology software 

which counted the numbers of stained cells. This 

allowed neurons, A 2A receptors, GABAergic neurons, and 

astrocytes in the respiratory rhythm-generating center, 

the preBötzinger Complex (pBC), to be localized and cell 

densities to be calculated. Neuron density (cells/10 6 µm 3 ) 

decreased 53% from 168 at P0 to 79 at P7. A 2A receptor 

density (receptors/10 6 µm 3 ) decreased 87% from 163 at P0 to 

21 at P7. GABAergic neuron density was relatively stable 

over P0 to P21, with 9% variation, while astrocyte density 

rose 27% over P0 to P21. The observed rapid drop in A 2A 

expression in the pBC of rat pups during the first week 

of life suggests that the reduced susceptibility to apnea 

observed in maturing neonates may be a consequence 

of the declining role of the inhibitory neurotransmitter 

adenosine in the neural network controlling respiration. 

Poster Board No. 060 PATHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF TBI IN A 

MOUSE MODEL OF ALzHEIMER’S DISEASE. Lena J Ransohoff, 

LRansohoff13@gmail.com, Hathaway Brown School, 19850 

Marchmont Rd., Shaker Hts. OH 44122, Olga N Kokiko- 

Cochran, Kokikoo@ccf.org, Bruce Lamb, Lambb@ccf.org 

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common cause for 

dementia. Post-mortem AD brain tissues show betaamyloid 

(Aβ) plaques, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles 

(NFT), neuroinflammation and neuronal loss. Traumatic 

brain-injury (TBI) is a significant risk factor for AD. At 

post-mortem, TBI brain tissues can exhibit AD-like 

neuropathological changes and patients can show memory 

impairment during life. This project studied a mouse 

model for the interaction between Aβ-deposition and TBI, 

using R1.40 mice, in which a transgene contains a genomic 

copy of the human amyloid precursor protein (APP) 

with a familial AD mutation. Previous studies showed 

neuroinflammation at 6 months of age, with Aβ plaques, 

learning and memory impairment after 12 months. Strainmatched 

wild-type (WT) mice were used as controls. At 2 

months of age, WT and R1.40 mice (N=4/group) received 

fluid-percussion brain injury. Behavioral testing, sacrifice 

and pathological examination were all done 3 months later. 

Rotorod (motor), Y-maze (memory) and Morris water-maze 

(learning) were tested to assess behavior. Histochemistry 

characterized lesion size and cellular pathology. Rotarod 

testing showed equivalent deficits in percussion-injured 

WT and R1.40 mice. WT and R1.40 sham mice showed 

average of latency (in seconds) which was borderline


Vol. 112(1) 

different between genotypes. However, WT and R1.40 

brain-injured mice showed average latency of 154±61 

and 151.32, respectively (P>0.05). Given equal motor 

performance, valid memory and learning comparisons 

could be done between injured WT and R1.40 mice. At 3 

months, memory and learning tests showed no differences 

between WT and R1.40. Histochemistry showed larger 

brain percussion-injury lesions in R1.40 mice. Conclusion: 

Behavioral testing established equal baseline deficits for 

WT and R1.40 mice at the early 3-month time-point after 

TBI. Therefore, valid behavioral comparisons between 

brain-injured WT and R1.40 mice can be done at later 

time-points. 


Poster Board No. 064 ENERGY CONTENT FOR PROTEIN 

SYNTHESIS IN GERMINATING SEEDS IS DERIVED FROM 

STORED STARCH AND FAT. Dhweeja Dasarathy, ddasarathy@ 

gmail.com, 391 East St Andrews Drive, Highland heights OH 

44143. (Birchwood School) 

Quality and quantity of protein in germinating seeds 

of different lentils is greater than the dry seeds. Since 

seeds lack photosynthetic capacity and increase in protein 

content is an energy requiring process, the present study 

was performed to determine the source of energy to improve 

protein content with germination. Green soy, white soy, 

kidney beans and chick pea (n=4 each) were germinated 

in tap water at room temperature. Protein content was 

quantified by the Lowry method using biocinchonic acid 

reduction. Total fat and triglycerides were quantified by 

the ether extraction and glycerol assay. Total starch as 

a measure of carbohydrate content was quantified by a 

colorimetric assay for starch. All assays were performed 

in triplicate. Total starch, fat and triglyceride content 

(all values mean ± standard deviation in mg/g) in the dry 

seeds (green soy 24.2±6.3, 14.5±5.1,12.2±3.7; white soy 

23.7±7.4,10.5±3.3,9.7±3.1; kidney bean 35.2±8.1,18.1±5.1, 

16.8±5.5; chick pea 36.1±6.9,16.5±5.2,15.5±4.6 respectively) 

were significantly higher (p

Vol. 112(1) 

Poster Board No. 068 THE RELATIONSHIP OF BASS VIOL 

PRICE VERSUS PREFERENCE EXPRESSED BY A PANEL OF 

MUSICIANS. Celeste E. Smith, cesmith4242@gmail.com. 

(Deborah Bogard), Dempsey Middle School, 599 Pennsylvania 

Ave. Delaware OH 43015 

The quality of an instrument’s sound in a musical 

performance can greatly enhance an audience’s pleasure. 

A bass string vibrates creating a sound wave. The 

frequency of the vibration of the string creates the pitch of 

the note. The four strings used on standard basses Hz (or 

frequencies) are 41Hz (E string), 55 Hz (A string) 72.4 Hz 

(D string) and 98 Hz (G string); these were tested in this 

study. The purpose of this research was to learn if buying 

a more expensive instrument resulted in a sound preferred 

by musicians. It was hypothesized that if a bass was more 

expensive, then musicians would report that they enjoyed 

the sound more. A group of six basses were tested. These 

were either built or rebuilt in 2000-2010. Three of these 

were less expensive ($1,200-$2,000) and the other three 

more expensive, ($5,000-$12,000). All basses were played 

into recording software, called a spectrogram, which 

graphed the frequency of the instruments. Musicians 

took a blind online survey of which sounds they preferred. 

Thirty-nine musicians responded, and the most preferred 

sound was of Bass C with twelve votes. Bass C cost $3,125 

and was built in 2004. Five voted for Bass A (cost $2,550), 

one voted for Bass B (cost $10,500), three voted for Bass 

D (cost $3,125), four voted for Bass E (cost $12,450), six 

voted for Bass F (cost $8,400), and seven voted for “cannot 

tell the difference.” There was not a correlation between 

the spectrogram and the survey, because the value the 

spectrogram showed was the same for all frequencies. 

The conclusion of this study is that the quality of sound 

produced by the basses tested was not dependent on price. 

Further research would greatly enhance the validity of 

this study. 

Poster Board No. 069 RADIATION EMBRITTLEMENT OF MISSE 

5 POLYMERS AFTER 13 MONTHS OF SPACE EXPOSURE Grace T. 

Yi 1 , gyi13@hb.edu, Gianna G. Mitchell, gmitchell13@hb.edu, 

Claire E. Ashmead, cashmead12@hb.edu, 5375 Portchester 

Drive, Hudson OH, 44236. (Hathaway Brown School) 

As the prevalence of satellites serving communication 

and navigation purposes increases, understanding the 

degradation patterns of space materials is becoming ever 

more important for designing durable space components. 

As a result of space radiation exposure, atomic oxygen 

interaction, and thermal cycling, the outer surfaces of 

space materials degrade when exposed to low Earth 

orbit (LEO). The objective of this study was to measure 

radiation-embrittlement-altered material properties of 

polymers used in spacecraft applications. 

As part of the Materials International Space Station 

Experiment 5 (MISSE 5), 39 polymers of varying materials 

were flown aboard the International Space Station for 13 

months. The samples were flown in a nadir-facing position 

and received relatively low doses of radiation. To determine 

the altered mechanical properties of the samples, each 

sample underwent bend testing, which utilized successively 

smaller mandrels to apply surface strain to samples placed 

on a semi-suspended pliable platform. The procedure 

included optical microscopy plus a coordinate system to 

ensure precision and regularity in documentation. For each 

flight sample, a pristine control sample was also tested. 

Of the 39 flight samples, 31 experienced some degree of 

surface cracking from the bend test, even though they were 

exposed to relatively low doses of radiation. None of the 

39 pristine counterparts experienced any surface cracking. 

These results indicated that even low doses of radiation 

have embrittling effects on polymers. In conclusion, even 

minimal exposure to radiation cannot be ignored when 

designing materials for space use, forcing engineers to 

reevaluate materials previously thought to be appropriate 

for space use and travel. 


Poster Board No. 070 SYNTHASIS AND EVALUATION OF HIGHLY 

ELASTOMERIC POLY(DIMETHYLSILOXANE) AEROGELS. Devon 

M Kilroy, dkilroy13@aol.com, 8810 Fairmount Road, Novelty, 

OH 44072. (Hathaway Brown School) 

The freeze-drying of an aqueous clay gel results in a lowdensity 

material known as a clay aerogel. Aerogels are 

primarily air containing inorganic skeletal structures 

and when aerogels are prepared using only laponite clay, 

which is a synthetically layered silicate, they tend to 

have less desirable mechanical properties, such as very 

weak compression moduli, in comparison to most other 

materials. The addition of polymers to a clay aerogel 

matrix has the potential to greatly improve the various 

mechanical properties of the material. Polymer/clay aerogel 

composites have a wide range of potential applications 

in packaging, insulation, and as light-weight structural 

materials. Poly(dimethylsiloxane)/clay aerogel composites 

were formed by adding room temperature vulcanized 

poly(dimethylsiloxane), Karstedt’s catalyst, which is an 

organometallic platinum complex and a crosslinking agent, 

and a surface binding agent to an aqueous laponite clay gel. 

The clay/water gel was blended until exfoliation occurred. 

Then dimethylsiloxane and Karstedt’s were added to 

the solution. The resulting gel was placed in a rotating 

lyophilization shell freezer (Virtis Freeze Mobile S2EL, 

-85°C–-70°C temperature range and with a pressure 

reduced to approximately 5 microbar) to sublime the water 

and create the finished poly(dimethylsiloxane)/clay aerogel. 

This aerogel was formed into a porous, elastic silicone 

network and it had an average density of 0.652 g/cm 3 ; 

higher than most other polymer/clay aerogel composites. 

As demonstrated by compression testing, the resulting 

material lacked strength and stiffness, but demonstrated 

toughness with a 100% recovery and a modulus of 0.043 

MPa in comparison to pure poly(dimethylsiloxane) that 

recovered 95.1% with fractures in the composition and a 

modulus of 0.341 MPa. The most noteworthy observation 

was that the poly(dimethylsiloxane)/clay aerogel acts 

elastically, recovering completely from high compressive 

strain without permanent deformation, even after multiple 

loading and unloading cycles. 

Poster Board No. 071 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN 

AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC RECYCLABLES TRANSPORTER 

(ARRT). Samantha B. Santoscoy, sb.santoscoy@gmail.com, 

Ketki Lele, klele12@hb.edu, 7870 Fox Hill Dr East, Gates Mills 

OH 44040 (Hathaway Brown School) 

Recycling is an important aspect of modern society as 

resources become increasingly limited. The goal of this 

project was to design, build, wire, and program a robot to 

autonomously navigate a building and pick up designated 

recycling bins, thus implementing a more efficient method 

of recycling. It is hypothesized that this robot would 

successfully self-navigate the building, pick up recycling 

bins, and dump each bin’s contents into its trailer 100% 

of the time. After a series of designs, the main structure 

of this Autonomous Robotic Recyclables Transporter 

(ARRT) was built using aluminum bars. Aspects of ARRT 

include a dual mechanical arm, pneumatics to operate 

the arm and clamp onto recycling bins, and Omni wheels 

for greater maneuverability in high obstacle zones. To 

program ARRT, the student researchers wrote several 

programs in Java. A series of waypoints were used to map 

out the robot’s route and a PID controller was used to 

keep the robot from straying away from the determined 

path. Sensors such as encoders attached to the motors 

and a gyroscope were used to obtain information about 

the robot’s position and heading, integral components of a 

successful PID controller. Each physical portion of ARRT 

and program written for ARRT functioned correctly 100% 

of the time in 10 trials. The entire robot can complete its 

designated route, thus marking the success of this project. 

ARRT can be easily applied to any building because of its 

ability to adapt to new paths and be used for transporting 

other materials, such as medical or janitorial supplies, as 

long as they are within the allotted width (2 feet). ARRT is


Vol. 112(1) 

capable of bringing about a more labor and time efficient 

recycling method. 

Poster Board No. 072 MALE HORMONES, FEMALE BEAUTY: 

DOES TESTOSTERONE BRING OUT THE COLOR IN GUPPIES? 

Frank J. Szmania, masterbass4@gmail.com, 5321 S. Main St. 

Apt. 303 Sylvania, Ohio 43560. (St. Joseph School, Sylvania) 

Synthetic testosterone can cause guppies’ true colors to 

be shown. If a fish breeder is having a hard time finding 

the right female to match the male’s color, the breeder 

could use synthetic testosterone to bring out the female’s 

true color. The hypothesis is that synthetic testosterone 

can cause a change in the coloration of a female guppy. 

In order to test this hypothesis, two 37.85L tanks were 

set up to test two different conditions. Each tank had 

eight, female guppies. Gravel, internal power filters and 

artificial coral were added, in similar fashion, to both 

tanks to ensure a stable environment. Tank one was used 

as a control, meaning that no testosterone was added to 

the water while 15 drops of a synthetic testosterone was 

added to each litter of water in the second tank. A color 

chart was used to determine color change in the female 

guppies. After two weeks, the control tank had no change 

in coloration in the females. One guppy had died. In tank 

two, where fifteen drops of synthetic testosterone had been 

added, a definite change in coloration was seen in seven of 

the eight female guppies. One died in this tank as well. In 

conclusion, the color change was related to the synthetic 

testosterone affecting the natural pigments in the females. 

This supported the hypothesis that synthetic testosterone 

can be used to enhance the coloration of female guppies for 

breeding. 

Poster Board No. 073 IS AVIAN FEEDING BEHAVIOR SHAPED 

BY METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS? A MULTIPLE SPECIES 

ANALYSIS. zoe P. Buccella, artistheart@comcast.net, 147 Pine 

Lane, Barnesville OH 43713. (Home School) 

Knowledge of meteorological conditions is important to 

better sustain our future avian populations. This study 

was performed from February 13, 2011 to March 11, 

2011 in Barnesville, Ohio. The purpose of the project 

was to determine and compare the effects of Ohio winter 

meteorological conditions on the feeding behavior of blackcapped 

chickadees (Poecile atricapilla), mourning doves 

(Zenaida macroura), dark-eyed slate-colored juncos (Junco 

hyemalis), white-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis), 

northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), blue jays 

(Cyanocitta cristata), tufted titmice (Baeolophus bicolor), 

and red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus). The 

hypothesis was that temperature, dew point, humidity, 

precipitation, barometric pressure, and UV Index would 

have different effects on the feeding behavior of each 

avian species studied. The experiment consisted of 

fifteen-minute observation sessions (N=80). During the 

observation sessions, the number of avian visits was 

recorded. A visit was recorded when an avian attempted 

to feed from a feeding device. During the experiment 

similar visitation rates were observed in seven of the eight 

avian species studied with the exception being the whitebreasted 

nuthatch. The experimental data revealed that 

during mild meteorological conditions, including high 

barometric pressure (30.06 in.--30.64 in.), high UV Index 

(>3), no precipitation, medium humidity (19%--47%), high 

dew point (4.6°C--12.8°C), and high temperature (9.2°C-- 

17.4°C), white-breasted nuthatches visited more frequently 

(152%) than the seven other species studied. The results 

of this study suggest that the white-breasted nuthatch, 

a notorious food hoarder, utilized milder meteorological 

conditions to gather and store food. 

Poster Board No. 074 DOES COCA-COLA® LOSE CARBONATION 

FASTER AT HIGH OR LOW TEMPERATURES? Jonathan J. 

Konecny jkonecny23@gmail.com 1143 Devil’s Hole Road 

Pemberville, Ohio 43450. (St. Aloysius Catholic School, 

Bowling Green, Ohio.) 

Temperature affects the solubility of CO 2 in water. As 

temperature increases, the molecular activity of the CO 2 

increases causing a decrease in the solubility of the CO 2 . 

Does Coca-Cola® lose carbonation faster at hot or cold 

temperatures? The soda will lose carbonation faster at hot 

temperatures because at the colder temperatures, the pop’s 

ability to lose carbonation will become slower. Materials 

needed to test this hypothesis include: one oven with light, 

an interval timer, a bowl, ice, a refrigerator, eight bottles of 

Coca-Cola®, and one Carbonation Loss Apparatus (CLAP). 

To carry out the experiment, the CLAP and the oven had 

to be built and set up. The desired temperatures of six of 

the bottles must be achieved and maintained using the ice 

bowl, the oven and the refrigerator. The remaining two 

bottles were left out. The bottles left out were attached, 

tested, and recorded. Once those bottles had been tested, 

the remaining six bottles were tested. After all of the 

bottles had been tested, the levels were recorded in a data 

table. On average the amount of carbonation lost from the 

soda was 178.85ml from the room temperature bottles, 

154.84ml from the refrigerator bottles, 89.67ml from 

the ice bottles, and 197.96ml from the hot bottles. Coca 

Cola® loses carbonation faster at hot temperatures. The 

real-world connection is: the best place to put an opened, 

unfinished soda is in a cooler filled with ice because the 

colder the soda, the more carbonation left. 

Poster Board No. 075 MAX GENE MUTATION SCREENING 

FOR PHEOCHROMOCYTOMA/ PARAGANGLIOMA (PCC/PGL) 

PATIENTS, Kiren K. Walters (kwally001@aim.com), 1482 

Fitzroy St.,Westlake, OH 44145, Ying Ni, MS, Cleveland Clinic, 

Genomic Medicine Institute, Charis Eng, M.D., PhD, Cleveland 

Clinic, Genomic Medicine Institute. (Hathaway Brown School) 

Pheochromocytoma (PCC) is an unusual neoplasia deriving 

from the adrenal medulla which secretes adrenaline and 

other hormones that affect blood pressure. PCC can be 

inherited and is caused by gene mutation. Until recently, 

PCC has been associated with germline mutations in one 

of nine susceptibility genes. Unlike most other diseases, 

30-40% of PCC cases are due to genetic causes. Recently, 

germline mutations in the MAX (gene encoding MYCassociated 

factor X) have been identified as yet another 

cause of PCC. A pilot study was conducted with germline 

DNA from 20 PCC/paraganglioma (extra adrenal PCC) 

patients and 8 ancestry-matched population controls. 

Patients were selected that had at least one clinical “red 

flag” for heritability, bilateral adrenal PCC, a family 

history of the disease or any malignant tumors, who did not 

carry mutations in the known 9 predisposition genes. To 

address the hypothesis that MAX mutations are the cause 

of PCC/PGL, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was 

used to amplify all 5 exons in the MAX gene. PCR products 

were sent for direct sequencing. Of the 20 patients, 3 

germline variants were identified in the intronic regions 

of the MAX gene. The common intronic single nucleotide 

polymorphism (SNP) c.63+49C>T was observed in 52% 

of the samples, in both patients and controls. The SNPs 

c.63+67G>A and c.34+138C>T occurred in 8.3% and 5% of 

patients respectively. In conclusion, 3 noncoding variants 

of unknown function were found in the patients. No 

previously reported pathogenic-mutations were identified.

Vol. 112(1) 

1:30 PM 

Undergraduate Research Session 

Dr. Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer, Presiding 

Kettering Science Center Lecture Hall Room 112 

1:30 Introduction—Dr. Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer—See page 5. 

1:40 MENTORING UNDERGRADUATES FOR SUCCESS IN 

RESEARCH. S. Tonia Hsieh, sthsieh@temple.edu, Department 

of Biology, 1900 North 12th St, Temple University, 

Philadelphia, PA 19122. 

Undergraduate research and inquiry-based learning are 

two tools critical for inspiring our future generations 

of scientists and leaders. While these methods for 

engaging students are well-known and often-practiced at 

predominately undergraduate institutions, exploring new 

methods for teaching and prioritization of undergraduate 

research at more research-focused institutions are often 

overlooked. Primary reasons cited for not involving 

undergraduates in research include principal investigators 

lacking the time to work with undergraduates due to 

already over-burdened schedules, the lack of preparation 

amongst the student body for critical thinking skills 

necessary for research, and the (supposed) inability 

of undergraduates to produce “useful” research. Such 

misperceptions are a travesty for scientific progress and 

a disservice to an undergraduate population that is filled 

with creative, knowledge-hungry students who can play a 

critical role driving innovation in even the busiest research 

lab. When properly conceived and supported by the right 

strategies, undergraduate research can be mentored by a 

“time-taxed” assistant professor at a research university 

and lead to undergraduates presenting talks at national 

meetings and co-authoring peer-reviewed publications. 

2:30 LEAD AND CADMIUM IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS: 

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AT ASHLAND UNIVERSITY 

IMPACTING PUBLIC POLICY. Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer, 

jweiden@ashland.edu, Department of Chemistry, Geology 

& Physics, 401 College Ave, Ashland University, Ashland, OH 

44805. 

Following the death of a 4-year-old Minnesota boy after 

swallowing a highly leaded bracelet charm, the lead 

content of children’s jewelry from local dollar stores was 

investigated in a course for non-science majors on lead’s 

chemistry and toxicity. This blossomed into an ongoing 

research effort that has involved science majors in Ashland 

University’s analytical chemistry courses and independent 

research projects. Jewelry samples and painted toys were 

screened for heavy metal content by X-ray fluorescence 

(XRF), and lead and cadmium content determined by acid 

digestion followed by atomic absorption analysis. Lead and 

cadmium bioavailability from jewelry has been determined 

using saline extractions to simulate exposure by mouthing 

of jewelry and dilute HCl extractions to simulate the worstcase 

scenario of ingestion of a jewelry item. Most recently, 

cadmium bioavailability was evaluated in 86 components 

of 57 jewelry items found to contain high levels of cadmium 

(> 10,000 ppm) by XRF. Saline extraction yielded as much 

as 2,200 µg cadmium, and 24-hr dilute HCl extraction 

yielded a maximum of > 20,000 µg cadmium. These 

amounts exceed the maximum amounts recommended by 

the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission 

(CPSC) by a factor of 100, indicating the potential for 

dangerous exposures to children who mouth or swallow 

this jewelry. The undergraduate research projects have 

resulted in eight peer-reviewed publications (including 

four papers co-authored by six different undergraduates), 

and more than a dozen CPSC recalls of jewelry and toys 

with high lead content as well as the first CPSC recalls of 

consumer products for cadmium contamination. 


2:45 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN POLYMER CHEMISTRY 

AT ASHLAND UNIVERSITY: POLYLACTIDE/POLYETHYLENE 

GLYCOL STAR BLOCK COPOLYMERS. Perry S. Corbin, pcorbin@ 

ashland.edu, Ashland University, Department of Chemistry/ 

Geology/Physics, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805. 

The synthesis of polymers that have varied molecular 

architectures and are designed to self-organize into higherorder 

structures is critical to the continued development 

of multifaceted materials. The preparation of such 

polymers has been the goal of a long-term undergraduate 

research program at Ashland University. Studies have 

recently focused on novel four-armed, calixarene- and 

resorcinarene-core polylactide (PLA)/polyethylene glycol 

(PEG) star block copolymers. These polymers may function 

as useful drug-delivery vehicles upon assembling into 

aqueous micelles. To synthesize the block copolymers, 

PLA star homopolymers were first prepared by tin(II)catalyzed 

ring-opening polymerizations of L-lactide. To 

couple PEG with the PLA chains, the homopolymer end 

groups were activated, and, subsequently, reacted with a 

nucleophilic, amino-PEG. The PLA-PEGs were purified by 

dialysis and multiple water washes. The disappearance 

of the signal for the terminal methine hydrogens of the 

PLA chain ends in nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) 

spectra of the activated PLA homopolymers suggested 

that the activation proceeded to completion. 1 H-NMR 

spectral integrations also allowed the degree of PLA- 

PEG coupling to be estimated in the second step of the 

convergent synthesis. Coupling efficiencies were estimated 

to be high (>90%). Further fluorescence spectroscopic and 

light-scattering studies indicated that aqueous micelles, 

indeed, form from the calixarene- and resorcinarenecore 

star block copolymers. In addition to the scientific 

merit of such studies, undergraduates obtain invaluable 

research training, develop reasoning skills, and examine 

important aspects of polymer chemistry—an area that, 

in some instances, does not receive its due attention in 

undergraduate chemistry curricula. 

3:00 FROM PROTEINS TO POLYLACTIDES: APPLICATION 

OF MALDI MASS SPECTROMETRY TO UNDERGRADUATE 

RESEARCH AT ASHLAND UNIVERSITY. Rebecca W. Corbin, 

rcorbin@ashland.edu, Ashland University, Department of 

Chemistry/Geology/Physics, 401 College Avenue, Ashland 

OH 44805. 

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) 

with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS) is one 

of the most versatile methods for the characterization 

of biological as well as synthetic polymer samples. 

MALDI-TOF MS serves an important role in a variety of 

interdisciplinary research projects at Ashland University. 

Over twelve undergraduates have been involved with 

these collaborations. Students learn to prepare samples, 

to evaluate matrix-analyte formulations, to optimize 

instrumental parameters, and to determine appropriate 

data analysis strategies for collaborative projects involving 

proteomics as well as polymer synthesis. One proteomics 

project involves MALDI-TOF MS analysis of recombinant 

and purified eye lens crystallins from the zebrafish Danio 

rerio. Results indicate the identity of specific crystallin 

sequences and suggest the presence of structurally 

modified forms. A second research project is the 

identification of circadian clock-associated proteins in the 

filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Comparing twodimensional 

gel electrophoresis profiles of proteins isolated 

at different time points allows the targeting of candidates 

associated with an internal circadian oscillator. One such 

protein, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, 

has been identified by tryptic digestion of an excised gel 

spot followed by MALDI mass fingerprinting. The longterm 

goal of an additional proteomics collaboration is the 

identification of neuronal interleukin-16 binding partners. 

MALDI-TOF MS also proves to be effective for the 

characterization of synthetic polymers. Specifically, the 

acquisition of mass spectra from polylactide star polymers 

provides information that is complementary to molecular


Vol. 112(1) 

weight measurements based on NMR spectroscopy and gel 

permeation chromatography. 

3:15 SMALL SCALE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS 

CAN MAKE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO LARGER 

SCIENTIFIC OUTCOMES: A CASE STUDY ON THE ORIGIN OF 

TWO MAJOR LITHOLOGIES IN THE ADIRONDACK LOWLANDS, 

NEW YORK. Michael R. Hudson (mhudson@ashland.edu) 

Department of Chemistry, Geology & Physics, Ashland 

University, Ashland, OH 44805 

Science faculty at many undergraduate institutions where 

teaching is stressed, graduate programs do not exist, and/or 

loads are heavy, often advise students on research projects 

that have meaningful conclusions for relatively small scale 

and often diverse questions. However, the case study 

identified in the title demonstrates that there is validity 

in conducting research on larger, complex questions by 

constructing projects that make incremental progress 

toward a unified research goal. This has been done very 

successfully at Ashland University where a large, multiyear 

project was designed to create a collective data set that 

would ultimately be used to draw conclusions concerning 

the origin of two major Mesoproterozoic lithologies (the 

Popple Hill Gneiss and the Hermon Granite) in the 

Adirondack Lowlands. A project of this magnitude was well 

beyond the time frame of a typical year-long undergraduate 

research endeavor; however, segmenting the research 

into parts that arrived at independent conclusions was 

a valuable way of achieving a synthesis outcome. Nine 

students were exposed to multiple aspects of scientific 

discovery during a 13 year period (number of projects in 

parentheses): field sampling (5), petrography (3), bulk 

chemistry by EDXRF (5), U-Th-Pb chemical geochronology 

of monazites by electron microprobe analysis (5), and data 

manipulation and analysis (9). These projects resulted in: 

six presentations at Annual Geological Society of America 

(GSA) Meetings, five presentations at Sections Meetings 

of the GSA, and one presentation at an Ohio Academy of 

Science Meeting. Additionally, this work is integral to a 

paper in press for Precambrian Research on the origin of 

the Popple Hill Gneiss and one in preparation on the origin 

of the Hermon Granite. 

3:30 Q & A 

Index to First Authors of 

Abstracts 

Abboud, Andrew N, 34 

Acerbi, Merissa Lynne, 20 

Alkhalili, Osama, 42 

Alkhalili, Samer, 41-42 

Altier, Bradley Micheal, 28 

Alves, Fabiana, 12-13 

Amoit, Caitlin Jane, 31-32 

Arko, Julie, 36 

Arnold, Paige, 25-26 

Arroyo, Nathan A, 9 

Backus, Julia K, 19 

Baker, Gillian, 37-38 

Balser, Brittany Ann, 20 

Barlow, Hannah Aileen, 42 

Benson, Josephine G, 38 

Beres, Zachery Tyler, 30-31 

Bhimani, Rohan, 32 

Bianco, Brittany, 10 

Blakely, Bethany Jearlyn, 32 

Bourne, John, 21-22 

Brooks, Mica, 41 

Brown, Larry C, 7 

Brush, Nigel R, 17-18 

Bryan, Alyssa M, 44-45 

Buccella, Zoe, 50 

Bullard, Elizabeth, 23 

Burgess, Michael, 22-23 

Carrico, Alexander Curtis, 46-47 

Carroll, Chad, 19 

Casper, MaryKate E, 36 

Catanzaro, Alice, 41 

Chaffin, Justin David, 9 

Chang, Serena, 39 

Cherry, Elizabeth, 25 

Cobanoglu, Yasemin, 44 

Coleman, Amanda Lee, 14 

Combs, Jonathon R, 35 

Conroy, Joseph David, 8 

Copenhaver, Eric, 25 

Corbett, Keira Anne, 15 

Corbin, Perry S, 51 

Corbin, Rebecca W, 51 

Cox, Bethany Grace, 25 

Crather, Heather Marie, 35 

Culbert, Mitchell, 21 

Dahl, Lindsay, 20 

Dasarathy, Dhweeja, 48 

Davis, Charles, 26 

Davis, Kyle McKay, 48 

Dean, Charles-Antoine Edward, 21 

Dean, Hillary A, 13

Vol. 112(1) 

Dean, Michaela, 37 

DeColibus, Dawn Teresa, 10-11 

Doerr, Anne T, 14 

Donley, Taylor M, 22 

Dulka, Eden, 31 

Duvall, Mikhaila Edlyn, 38 

Endrizzi, Elizabeth, 27 

Falls, Anna C, 17 

Fazio, Colleen, 45 

Filbrun, Jesse Everett, 11 

Frey, William, 48 

Friedl, Christine, 14-15 

Fruchey, Garett Dalton, 10 

Fullerton, Elizabeth, 19 

Garrett, Adrianne, 35-36 

Gerken, Elise, 22 

Gibson, Ryan M B, 35 

Graham, Francis G, 36 

Griffith, Kristie N, 29-30 

Grisnik, Matthew, 33-34 

Gruey, Stewart C, 20-21 

Guo, Joyce, 48-49 

Habib, Nayab, 45 

Haley, Zachary, 32-33 

Hankins, Takeisha Louree, 43 

Hardval, Jesse E, 32 

Hsieh, S. Tonia, 51 

Helterbran, Dawn M, 23 

Herman, Catherine, 20 

Hoffman, Danielle, 33 

Huang, Jennifer D, 16 

Hudson, Michael R, 52 

Hughes, Maya Christine, 9 

Idippily, Nethrie D, 29 

Irizarry, Alicia, 24 

Janho, Michel Kahwaji, 27 

Jenney, Chelsea Rae, 16-17 

Jones, Jennifer Louise, 47 

Jones, Winifred Danielle, 44 

Kane, Douglas Donald, 10 

Karsiotis, Susanne, 11 

Kelley, Katie, 33 

Kessler, John W, 9 

Kessler, Morgan T, 37 

Kilroy, Devon McCrory, 49 

Kim, Jane, 40 

Klosz, Kimberly, 29 

Knapp, Lindsey M, 26-27 

Kobelt, Liza, 27 

Konecny, Jonathan Joseph, 50 

Kradel, Sarah, 11 

Kruzer, Karen A, 34 

Kruzer, Michael, 40-41 

Kumar, Aarti, 44 


Kumar, Aman, 40 

Lehmann, Katie Croft, 15 

Li, Mei, 17 

Liu, David S, 30 

Lovett, Timothy J, 7 

Majcher, Michael, 24-25 

Mangicaro, James C, 40 

Mankin, David E, 24 

Mapes, Robert L, 13 

Marcum, Sheri Lynn, 28 

Marmaduke, Melissa Ann, 18 

Martin, Leigh Ann, 9 

Martin, Mary Marlene, 46 

Martins, Sarah Fonseca, 13 

Mayo, Anna Kathryn, 43 

Merry, Andrea Danielle, 28 

Miller, Halle A, 42-43 

Minerovic, Alison, 8 

Myers, Abigail L, 42 

Narendrula, Aparna, 47 

Nascimento, Deborah Ribeiro, 36-37 

Norman, Natalie Joyce, 38-39 

Oleskiewicz, Dana M, 8 

Oruganti, Poornima, 37 

Pallaki, Mitchell K, 43 

Pastor, Joshua Andrew, 21 

Pierson, Thomas Joseph, 23-24 

Plattner, Moriah, 23 

Plenzler, Michael A, 19-20 

Posner, Mason, 18 

Ramsey, Mitchell Preston, 16 

Ransohoff, Lena Jane, 47-48 

Ray, Arlie A, 20 

Raymond, Heather, 7 

Ringlein, Jessica, 28 

Riordan, Brittney, 15 

Roby, John, 33 

Romar, Joey Elizabeth, 29 

Rowland, Samantha P, 39-40 

Rudraraju, Sachin, 46 

Sangtani, Ajmeeta, 31 

Santoscoy, Samantha, 49-50 

Saunders, Patricia A, 12 

Sciplin, Rachael, 24 

Scotese, Kyle, 8 

Sekaran, Kanithra Chandra, 43 

Shah, Shefali Sanjay, 46 

Shankar, Preeya, 45 

Shrivastava, Peeyush, 47 

Sizemore, Joy, 15-16 

Smith, Celeste Elaine, 49 

Smith, Whitney Cdel, 28-29 

Spain, Sara, 43-44 

Stamey, Kamela De, 18 

Stenger, Christine, 30 

Steward, Sara Katheryn, 26 

Steyer, Andrew Gregory, 18-19 

Stone, Harry J, 7 

Szalay, Paul S, 30 

Szmania, Frank J, 50 

Tekulve, Will C, 41 

Thomas, Lauren Catherine, 38 

Tillie, Charles, 27-28 

Timperman, Lauren, 26 

Trumbo, Jennifer, 22 

Vana, Lynette, 34 

Veeramani, Anamika, 39 

Vincent, Robert K, 10 

Walro, Darlene G, 34-35 

Walters, Kiren Kaur, 50 

Wargelin, Lindsay June, 17 

Weidenhamer, Jeffrey D, 51 

Williams, Emily Jean, 16 

Williams, Kathleen Anne, 12 

Willis, Allison R, 14 

Wolf, Wesley, 45-46 

Woodling, Kristen, 13 

Yi, Grace T, 49 

Young, Curtis E, 31 

Young, Lauren, 12 

Zappitelli, Lucille Elizabeth, 30 

Zhao, Yujing, 11-12 

Zippe, Ingrid Nieves, 39 

Index to Fields of Interest 

of Abstracts 

Agriculture, 37 

Algae Symposium, 7-10 

Alternative Fuels, 37 

Animal Behavior, 18 

Aquatic Biology, 18-19 

Aquatic Ecology, 10-12, 19-20 

Aquatic Ecology/Fisheries, 13 

Archaeology, 17-18 

Bacteriology, 20 

Behavioral Science, 20, 38 

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, 11-12 

Biochemistry, 20-21 

Bioinformatics, 21 

Biology, 11-12, 14-15, 21-24, 37-39 

Biology/Medical, 24 

Biomedical Engineering, 24-25 

Biomedical, 24 

Biophysics, 25 

Bioterrorism, 39 

Botany, 25-26, 39-40 

Cancer, 26


Vol. 112(1) 

Cell Biology, 26-27 

Chemical & Biomolecular 

Engineering, 27, 39 

Chemical Engineering, 27-28 

Chemistry of materials, 30 

Chemistry, 28- 30, 40 

Consumer Products Testing, 50 

Ecology & Molecular Ecology, 11 

Ecology, 10, 30-31 

Ecology/Aquaculture, 11 

Education, 12 

Engineering, 16, 31, 40-41 

Entomology, 31 

Environmental, 41-44 

Evolution/Phylogeography, 31-32 

Field Biology, 13-14, 32 

Field Ecology, 32 

Fisheries Biology, 43 

Fisheries, 32 

Fisheries/Aquatic Ecology, 14 

Gene regulations/Stress Protein, 32-33 

Genetics, 12-13, 33 

Geology & Earth Science, 15 

Geology, 16 

Health & Medicine, 43 

Infectious disease/Ecology, 33-34 

Materials Science, 43 

Medicine, 43-45, 50 

Medicine, HIV Research, 45 

Micriobiology, 14-16, 34-35, 45-47 

Molecular Biology, 47 

Molecular Evolution, 35 

Nanotechnology, 47 

Neuroscience, 47-48 

Nutrition, Biology, 48 

Ornithology, 48 

Paracitology, 35 

Physics, 48-49 

Physiological Ecology, 16-17, 35-36 

Polymer Chemistry, 17, 36, 49 

Protein Evolution, 18 

Robotics, 49-50 

Space Engineering, 36 

Undergraduate Research Session, 51-52 

Virology, 36-37 

Zoology, 50 

NOTES

Vol. 112(1) 

26-All-Academy Lecture 

and lunch. 

Upper Convocation 

Center 

How to get to Ashland University 

401 College Avenue 

Ashland, OH 44805 

419.289.4142 | 800.882.1548 

Coming from the north or south on I-71: 

From Interstate 71, take exit #186 or U.S. Route 250, Ashland. Off the exit 

ramp, turn left on Route 250 heading west. Do not take the Route 250 bypass; 

continue west on Main Street into Ashland. As you pass the downtown 

business district and Home Hardware on your left, merge into the left 

lane and turn left on Claremont Avenue at the next intersection. Continue 

south on Claremont Avenue in the left lane and turn left at the second traffic 

light, the intersection of King Road and College Avenue. Make a soft 

left turn onto King Road. Please refer to the Parking Lots on Campus text 

below or campus map for specific parking information. 

Coming from the east on U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Route 250: 

When U.S. Routes 30 and 250 split on the west side of Wooster, take U.S. 

Route 250 west toward Ashland. Do not take the Route 250 bypass; continue 

west on Main Street into Ashland. As you pass the downtown business 

district and Home Hardware on your left, merge into the left lane and 

turn left on Claremont Avenue at the next intersection. Continue south on 

Claremont Avenue in the left lane and turn left at the second traffic light, 

the intersection of King Road and College Avenue. Make a soft left turn 

onto King Road. Please refer to the Parking Lots on Campus text below or 

campus map for specific parking information. 


4-Kettering 

Science Center 

Undergraduate 

Session Rm 112 

B-Parking 

C-Parking 

5-Registration, 

Refreshments, 

Posters & Most 

Sessions 

including Algae 

Symposium 

Coming from the west on the Ohio Turnpike or coming from 

the north on U.S. Route 250: 

From the Turnpike, exit 118, U.S. Route 250 and travel south on Route 250 

about 37 miles to Ashland. Do not take the route 250 Bypass, continue 

straight into Ashland. This will become Cottage Street. As you approach 

the third traffic light, which is Main Street, be sure to stay in the center lane 

to go down the hill and straight through the intersection. When you cross 

Main Street, you will now be on Claremont Avenue. Continue south on 

Claremont Avenue in the left lane and turn left at the second traffic light, 




Coming from the north on State Route 58: 

Take State Route 58 south toward Ashland. Do not take the Routes 250 and 

58 bypass, continue straight into Ashland on Orange Street. Bear left onto 

Union Street and continue south to the intersection of Main Street. Turn 

right onto Main Street. Continue through the downtown business district. 

At the second traffic light turn left on Claremont Avenue. Continue south 

on Claremont Avenue in the left lane and turn left at the second traffic light, 




Parking Lots On Campus 

Please park in Lots B or C.


The Ohio Environmental Science 

& Environmental Engineering 

Vol. 112(1) 

Page 1 of 2 

Scholarship Program 

APPlicAtion 

Program description: http://www.ohiosci.org/OESEESCHOLARSHIPS.htm 

Online, Adobe PDF fill-in application: http://www.ohiosci.org/ScholarshipApplication.pdf 

Deadline: Mail First Class. Postmarked by June 1. 

$1,250 two year programs and $2,500 for four or five year programs, non-renewable. 

T 

hese merit based, nonrenewable, scholarships will be given to undergraduate students admitted to and 

enrolled in Ohio state or private colleges and universities who can demonstrate their knowledge and 

commitment to careers in environmental sciences or environmental engineering. Students must be in 

the final year of the program by the autumn term. Awardees will be selected by an Academy appointed panel 

using a blind review process. Scholarships may be used for tuition, fees, books, personal protection equip- 

ment, tools, instruments and field equipment but not housing. 

Ohio Environmental Education Fund 

1. Check Title _____ Ms. _____ Mr. 

2. First ____________________ 3. Middle _______________ 4. Last _____________________________ 

5. Home Address ______________________________________________________________________ 

6. City __________________________________ 7. State _______________ 8. ZIP __________________ 

9. EMAIL ___________________________10. Home phone (_____) _____________________________ 

11. Last four digits of Social Security No. __________ 

12. Year in school by autumn term: _____ 2nd _____ 4th ______ 5th 

13. College or university in which you will be enrolled ________________________________________ 

14. Academic major ______________________ 15. Expected graduation date _____________________ 

16. Advisor’s full name ______________________________17. Office phone (_____) _______________ 

18. If selected, are you willing to participate in annual follow-up surveys for three years after receipt of 

a scholarship? _____ YES _____ NO 

19. May the Academy release your name and resume to potential employers? _____ YES _____ NO 

PLEASE ATTACH APPROPRIATE SUPPORTING INFORMATION TO RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING: 

20. Academic record with an overall GPA of at least 3.0. Your current GPA _____________ on a 4.0 system. 

Please attach a current (full) transcript and circle the GPA. Transcript must include all courses taken to-date. 

Enclose an “OFFICIAL” transcript with your original signed application and unofficial copies in the 6 identical 

sets. Alternatively attach only a sealed transcript if that is your school’s policy. 

21. Attach a maximum two page vita, biosketch, or resume that includes the following elements, in this order: 

contact information, education, employment and/or internships (basic information only), honors/awards, professional 

memberships, publications (full citation), presentations given and professional meetings attended, 

and community service. 

Continued on page 2

Vol. 112(1) 

Page 2 of 2 

22. Repeat First and Last Name ____________________________________ 


Applicants from four-year colleges: 

Each of the following essays may not exceed one two-sided page, double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins. 

23. Attach an essay (not exceeding one two-sided page, double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins) to describe your 

reasons for choosing a career in environmental science or environmental engineering and how this scholarship will 

help you. 

24. Attach an essay detailing any original research, scholarship, employment and/or internships, or other unique contributions 

to environmental science or environmental engineering. 

25. Attach an essay describing your extracurricular activities and participation in organizations that demonstrate your 

leadership and interpersonal skills and social responsibility. 

Applicants from two-year colleges: 

Please combine your response to requirements 23, 24 and 25 into a single essay that covers as many of the points as 

possible with the length not to exceed three two-sided pages, double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins. 

26. Attach two letters of recommendation from education or environmental professionals, addressed to Scholarship 

Review Committee. One must be from a faculty member at your institution. They may be sealed or unsealed copies. 

27. *Amount Requested $ _________ 

*Maximum: $1,250 for two year programs and $2,500 for four or five year programs, non-renewable. 

28. Date needed _________________ 

Scholarship checks will be sent to the college financial aid office. All applicants will be notified of the scholarship 

recipients. 

I certify that all information provided is true and accurate, I authorize independent veri¬fication, and I understand 

that if awarded a scholarship, information contained in this application may be released to the media. 

29. SIGNATURE ___________________________________ 30. DATE ___________________ 

Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard to acknowledge receipt of your application. 

QUESTIONS? Phone (614) 488-2228 • Email oas@iwaynet.net 

MAIL FIRST CLASS a complete, original signed copy with stapled attachments and 6 identical, two-sided, collated 

and stapled (please do not bind in a folder or cover) copies (7 total) postmarked by June 1. 

Environmental Science Scholarships 


PO Box 12519 

Columbus OH 43212-0519


Vol. 112(1) 



Theme: Undergraduate Research 

Hosted by 

April 13-14, 2012 

Word Cloud of Program from A to Z. 

Highlights 

All-Academy Lecture: 

Mentorship, A Key to Success in Research, Teaching and Life by Dr. J. Patrick Card, Professor of Neuroscience 

and Co-Director of the Center for Neuroanatomy with Neurotropic Viruses at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Special Session on Undergraduate Research programs 

Mentoring Undergraduates for Success in Research by Dr. S. Tonia Hsieh, Dept. of Biology 

Temple University, Philadelphia 

Symposium: Water Quality and Harmful Algal Blooms (14 presentations and discussion) 

Podium and Poster Technical Sessions 

Details and Registration 

www.ohiosci.org/OJS112(1).pdf 

Please Post

An Adobe PDF online fill-in form is available at http://www.ohiosci.org/AshlandRegistrationForm.pdf 

Vol. 112(1) 

THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 

Registration Form 


April 13-14, 2012 

Ashland University 

Advance registration must be received by April6, 2012 

ALL MEETING ATTENDEES MUST REGISTER: Access to sessions by name tag only. 

Name tag, information packet and receipt will be available at the meeting. 

Please return the completed registration form along with the appropriate fees 

to the address below. 

STUDENTS, SPOUSES, OR RELATIVES: A special discount schedule has been approved 

to promote and encourage participation of undergraduates, pre-college 

students, non-science spouses or relatives. All students, non-science spouses, 

parents or relatives must register using a separate form. This registration does 

not include membership or meals. 

Each person must use a SEPARATE REGISTRATION FORM 

Please copy this form as needed. 

An Adobe PDF online fill-in form is available at 

http://www.ohiosci.org/AshlandRegistrationForm.pdf 

PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE 

Check: _____Ms. _____Mrs. _____Mr. _____Dr. 

Name ___________________________________________ 

First Middle Last 

Job Title _________________________________________ 

School, Organization, Agency, Institution, or Employer 

________________________________________________ 

Is the following a home address? _____Yes _____No 

Students MUST use home, dorm or apartment address. 

Address ___________________________________________ 

City _____________________________________________ 

State _____ Zip _________ Ohio County ___________ 

Work Phone (_________) _______________________ 

Home Phone (_________) _______________________ 

FAX (_________) _______________________ 

EMAIL (_________) _______________________ 

MAIL FORM WITH PAYMENT TO: 


PO Box 12519 


FAX 614/488-7629 


Registration Fees 

Please check appropriate categories. One fee covers the entire meeting. Payment 

must be received by April 6, 2012 to avoid higher rates. On-site registration 

will be accepted at the higher rate by credit card or check ONLY. 

ONLY first authors have pre-paid registration when they submitted their abstracts and 

DO NOT NEED to return this form. First authors are already registered for the meeting. 

CURRENT MEMBER REGISTRATION RATE After Apr. 6 

____Professional $65 $70 

____Retired $40 $45 

____Student $25 $30 

NON-MEMBER PROFESSIONAL AND RETIRED REGISTRATION 

Includes membership 

____Professional $ 140 $145 

____Retired with Journal $ 80 $85 

____Retired without Journal $ 65 $70 

NON-MEMBER PRE-COLLEGE AND COLLEGE STUDENT 

Includes Academy membership 

____College Student with Journal $ 65 $70 

____Student (17 & under) w/Jour. $ 65 $70 

____Student (17 & under) w/o Jour. $ 50 $55 

Does not include Academy membership 

____Pre-college student $20 $30 

____College student $20 $30 

____5-10 students each $15 $20 

____11 or more students each $10 $20 

NON-SCIENCE SPOUSE, PARENT OR A RELATIVE OF A FIRST AUTHOR 

____Spouse, parent or relative $10 $20 

ALGAE SYMPOSIUM OR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SESSION ONLY 

____Algae (8:30-4:00) $20 $25 

____Undergraduate Research Session (1:30-4:00) $20 $25 

SATURDAY, APRIL 14, Box Lunch 

____Box Lunch after All-Academy Lecture $10 $N.A. 

Please use a separate form for each MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL 

____Family $85 

____Regular Member $75 

____Retired Member w/OJS $40 

____College Student $40 

____Student (Age 17 & under) w/OJS $40 

____Retired Member w/o OJS $25 

____Student (Age 17 & under) w/o OJS $25 

TOTAL ENCLOSED $________ 

METHOD OF PAYMENT 

NO REFUNDS AFTER April 6, 2012 . Returned checks subject to a $30.00 fee. 

Only registrations paid by Purchase Order, VISA, or MasterCard will be accepted 

by FAX at 614/488-7629. 

_____This copy confirms a FAXed registration 

_____Check enclosed payable to The Ohio Academy of Science 

_____Purchase order enclosed No. ____________ 

Online payment http://www.ohiosci.org/index_store.html . 

Please charge my Credit card ____ VISA ____ MASTERCARD 

Name on card _______________________________________ 

Billing address for card __________________________________ 

________________________________________________ 

Billing phone (_______) _______________________________ 

CardNumber ________________________________________ 

Exp. Date _________ 

3-digit Security Code (last 3 digits on back of card) _________________ 

Signature _________________________________________


Vol. 112(1) 

REGISTRATION POLICIES 


The OHIO ACADEMY of SCIENCE 

Hosted by Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio 

April 13-14, 2012 

Advance registration must be received by April 6, 2012 to qualify for lower rates. 

ALL attendees must register. 

An Adobe PDF online fill-in form is available at http://www.ohiosci.org/AshlandRegistrationForm.pdf 

ALL MEETING ATTENDEES: Access to sessions by name tag only. Name tag, information and receipt will 

be available at the meeting. Please return the completed registration form along with the appropriate fees to 

the address printed below. 

ONLY first authors have pre-paid registration when they submitted their abstracts and DO NOT NEED to 

return this form. First authors are already registered for the meeting. However, you do need to order a lunch if 

you wish. 

STUDENTS, SPOUSES, PARENTS OR RELATIVES: To promote and encourage participation of undergraduates, 

pre-college students, non-science spouses, parents or relatives, a special discount schedule has been 

approved. All students, non-science spouses or relatives must register using a separate form. This registration 

does not include membership or meals which must be paid separately. 

$10 by April 6; $20 thereafter. 

DISCOUNTED RATES FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT FIRST AUTHOR: (Does not include 

membership.) 

1-4 from same institution $20 by April 6; $30 thereafter. 

5-10 from same institution $15 by April 6 ; $20 thereafter. 

11 or more from same institution $10 by April 6; $20 thereafter 

ALGAE SYMPOSIUM OR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SESSION: The follow rates apply to promote 

and encourage participation in these two special events: 

$20 by April 6; $25 thereafter. 

The All-Academy Lecture is open to the public without cost. 

Please use a SEPARATE REGISTRATION FORM for each person. 

Copy the form on the reverse side as needed. 

MAIL FORM WITH PAYMENT TO: 


PO Box 12519 


FAX 614.488.7629 for credit card or purchase order. 

Online payment option http://www.ohiosci.org/store/annual_meeting.html 

PREREGISTRATION DEADLINE: April 6, 2012.

172 RUNNING HEAD 


Author’s Instructions for Preparation of Manuscripts 

Vol. 97 

The Ohio Journal of Science considers for publication solicited Book Reviews and 

Research Reviews, and unsolicited Brief Notes and Research Reports. Solicited 

submissions will be requested by the editor or member of the editorial board. Book 

reviews will be requested of experts in the subject matter of the book to be 

reviewed. Research Reviews will be requested to serve as extensive surveys of the 

literature of an area of science in which Academy members have an interest. 

Unsolicited submissions, in the form of presentations of quantitative or qualitative 

data pertinent to any of the divisions of the Academy listed inside the 

front cover, will be considered for peer review. Brief notes are manuscripts 

that are less than 2 printed pages (approximately 6 typed pages) and contain no 

more than one table, figure or other type of illustration. The editor will identify 

papers which meet these criteria as Brief Notes if not already categorized as such 

by the author. Research Reports are those papers which are longer than 2 pages 

or contain more than one illustration. 

All manuscripts will be organized as follows: 

Page 1 – Title, Author(s), Running Head, Abstract 

Page 2 and remainder – Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, 

Discussion, Acknowledgments, Literature Cited, Tables, Figure Legends, 

Figures. 

STYLE. The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th Ed. is used for 

editorial decisions with regard to style. Manuscripts should be typewritten using 1 

inch margins on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. Text should be left-justified using elite print 

(twelve characters per inch). Three copies should be submitted. Manuscript should 

be double spaced throughout, including the title and abstract. Arabic numerals should 

be used in preference to words when the number designates anything that can 

be counted or measured (7 samples, 43 species). One exception to this use is 

that numerals are not used to begin a sentence (Twenty-one species were found 

in . . .). The 2nd exception is when 2 numeric expressions are adjacent in a sentence. 

The number easiest to express in words should be spelled out and the other left in 

numeric form (The sections were divided into eight 4-acre plots.). 

TITLE, AUTHOR(S), AFFILIATION(S). The first page of the manuscript 

should contain the title, author(s) name(s), the affiliation of the author(s) at the 

time the research was carried out, a shortened title (running head), and the abstract. 

The title must be typed in upper and lower case letters as it will appear when 

typeset. Name(s) of the author(s) should be typed in capital letters below the title. 

The address (department, institution, city, state, postal code, country if not USA) 

should appear below the name of the author(s). If more than one institution is to be 

credited, they should appear in the order of the authors’ affiliation. A running head 

of not more than 38 letters and spaces should be typed in capital letters between 

the address and the abstract. 

ABSTRACT. The abstract should summarize the main conclusions and any 

new methods or procedures critical to the results of the study. It should be 250 

words or fewer. 

INTRODUCTION. The introduction should describe the knowledge that gave 

rise to the question examined by, or the hypothesis posed for the research. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS. This section should describe the research design, 

the methods and materials used in the research (subjects, their selection, equipment, 

laboratory or field procedures), and how the findings were analyzed. 

RESULTS. The text of the results should be a descriptive narrative of the main 

findings, of the reported study. This section should not list tabulated data in text 

form. Reference to tables and figures included in this section should be made 

parenthetically in the text. 

DISCUSSION. This section should compare and contrast the data collected in 

the presented study with that previously reported in the literature. Unless there 

are specific reasons to combine the two, as explained by the author in the letter of 

transmittal, Results and Discussion should be two separate sections. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. Colleagues and/or sources of financial support 

to whom thanks are due for assistance rendered in completion of the research or 

preparation of the manuscript should be recognized in this section rather than in 

the body of the text. 

LITERATURE CITED. References to scientific literature should be arranged 

alphabetically by first author’s last name using the Name/Year (N-Y) method 

as described in the CBE Manual. 

Journals : 

Author(s). Year. Article title. Journal title volume number (issue number):inclusive 

pages. 

Thomison JB. 1988. Uniform requirements for manuscripts. South Med J 

81(8):947-52. 

Form of citation : (Thomison 1988) 

Books : 

Author(s). Year. Title. Place of publication: publisher name. Number of pages. 

Voet D, Voet JG. 1990. Biochemistry. New York: J Wiley. 1223 p. 

Form of citation : (Voet and Voet 1990) 

Multiple author citation : (Steiner and others 1992) 

TABLES. Tables must be typed double spaced, one table to a page, numbered 

consecutively, and placed in the manuscript after Literature Cited. Since tables 

must be individually typeset, consolidation of data into the smallest number of 

tables is encouraged. A horizontal double underline should be made beneath the 

title of the table, and single underlines should be made the width of the table below 

the column headings and at the bottom of the table. Do not use vertical lines, and 

do not place horizontal lines in the interior of the table. Footnotes should be used 

to clarify possible questions within the table, and should be noted by asterisks, 

daggers, or other symbols to avoid confusion with numerical data. 

FIGURES. All illustrations are referred to as “Figures” and must be numbered 

consecutively. Figures may be photographs, hand-drawn or computer generated 

drawings in black ink. Each figure should be identified along the top edge with 

the name of the author(s) and figure number, and on the back with name of 

author(s) and manuscript title. Illustrations other than those generated by the 

author(s) must bear permission for use and credit to the originator. ORIGINAL 

ARTWORK WILL NOT BE RETURNED UNLESS SPECIFICALLY 

REQUESTED AT TIME OF SUBMISSION. Each figure must have a complete 

legend. The legend should not be placed on the figure, but should be typed in order, 

double-spaced, on a separate sheet which precedes the figures in the manuscript. 

Figures should be referred to parenthetically in the text, for example (Fig. 1). The 

size and proportion of each illustration should be suitable for reduction. Excessive 

white space should be avoided. Illustrations will be reduced to one column width 

(3 and 3/8 inches) or two column width (7 inches) at the discretion of the editor. 

Lettering should be done of a size to ensure that it can be read after reduction. 

On maps and other illustrations where original size is a concern, a graphic scale 

should be incorporated into the figure. 

FOOTNOTES. Text footnotes should not be used with the following exceptions. 

A footnote to the title will be added editorially to state the dates of manuscript 

submission and revision. A footnote to name(s) of author(s) may be used to indicate 

present address different from that at which the research was done, or to indicate the 

author to whom inquiries should be directed. All other material or comments must 

be incorporated into the text. Literature Cited should not be inserted as foot-notes. 

Footnotes to tables are permissible, and are encouraged to promote clarity. 

Attention to the above instructions will minimize the need for revision and 

editorial correction, and will shorten the time from submission to publication. 

Any questions which are not answered by these instructions, or by consulting 

the CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th Edition, should be 

addressed to the editor. 

After consulting the manuscript preparation guidelines at http://www. ohiosci. 

org/ojsinstr.htm, please submit all materials to: 

Manuscript Processing 


1500 W Third Ave Ste 228 


For technical questions about electronic formats or other details 

for submission, contact: 

Phone: 614-488-2228 

Fax: 614-488-7629 

oas@iwaynet.net

The Ohio State University’s Island Campus on Lake Erie 

APPLY NOW for Summer 2012 Courses 

F.T. Stone Laboratory, The Ohio State University’s Island Campus on Lake Erie, offers more than 25 college credit courses 

to undergraduate and graduate students, educators, and advanced high school students every summer. 

Introductory Courses for All Majors 

Open to college and advanced high school students. 

1-week courses, 2 semester hours 

• ENR 2360: Ecology and Conservation of Birds (June 10 – 16) 

• EDUPAES 1140.05: Lake Erie Sport Fishing (June 10 – 16) 

• EEOB 1930: Introduction to Biological Studies - 

Aquatic Biology (June 10 – 16, July 22 – 28, or July 29 – August 4) 

• EARTHSC 1107: Field-Based Introduction to Oceanography 

(July 22 – 28) 

• EEOB 1910: Introduction to Biological Studies - 

Local Plants (July 29 – August 4) 

• ENTMLGY 1260: Introductory Insect Field Biology (July 29 – August 4) 

Upper-Level Courses 

Open to college students who are studying biological sciences, education, 

and natural resources, as well as to science teachers. See website for 

courses that may be taken for graduate credit. 

1-day course, .5 semester hour 

• EEOB 5970: Larval Fish Identification Workshop (June 24) 

2-day course, .5 semester hour 

• EEOB 5950: Algae Identification Workshop (August 6 – 7) 


• EEOB 5910: Field Herpetology (June 10 – 16) 

• EEOB 59xx: Spider Biology (June 10 – 16) 

• EEOB 4950: Field Ecology (July 22 – 28) 

• ENR 5194: Climate and Sustainability (July 29 – August 4) 

5-week courses, 4 semester hours (June 17 – July 21) 

• EEOB 5930: Ichthyology 

• EEOB 5940: Field Zoology 

• EEOB 3410: Ecology 

• EEOB 3310: Evolution 

• EEOB 5420: Ecology of Inland Waters 

• ENR 5699: Current Topics in Environment and 

Engineering, 1 credit (Four Thursday evening seminars) 

Non-Credit Workshops 

Open to the public and college students as non-credit courses. Participants 

must be at least 18 years of age. 

• Larval Fish Identification Workshop (June 24) 

• Algae Identification Workshop (August 6 – 7) 

• Dealing With Cyanobacteria, Algal Toxins, and Taste & 

Odor Compounds (August 9 – 10) 

• Outdoor Photography Workshop (August 10 – 12) 

• Lake Erie Sport Fishing Workshop (August 10 – 12) 

• Fish-Sampling Techniques Workshop (September 15 – 16) 

Science Courses for Educators 

Classes are open to classroom teachers and education majors with a junior 

rank or above by summer 2012. 


• EARTHSC 5189.05: Geologic Setting of Lake Erie (June 16 – 22) 

• ENR 5690: Climate Change Education (July 22 – 28) 

• EEOB 4950: Field Ecology (July 22 – 28) 

• EARTHSC 5584: Principles of Oceanography for Educators 

(July 29 – August 4) 

• ENR 5194: Climate and Sustainability (July 29 – August 4) 

REU Program 

Live the life of a professional researcher this summer! In Stone Lab’s Research 

Experience for Undergraduates Scholarship Program, students spend five weeks 

working alongside top scientists to learn how to conduct in-the-field research. This 

year students will lead the following projects: 

• Reproductive biology and early life history of fishes (Ichthyology) 

• Survival rates of birds of the Lake Erie islands (Ornithology) 

• Dissolved oxygen in Lake Erie; tracking the “dead zone” (Limnology) 

• Nutrient loading (Eutrophication) and algal production (Limnology) 

• Fisheries techniques; research and fish survey development 

• Efficiency of developed snake deterrents (Herpetology) 

• Biological curation; phylogeny and taxonomy 

Tuition Assistance and Jobs 

All students taking for-credit courses are eligible for scholarship funds, which typically 

range from $100 to $2,500. Students enrolled in five-week courses can also apply for 

Stone Lab’s part-time positions or find jobs at local Put-in-Bay businesses. 

Course credits are based on the Ohio State University semester credit 

system and are transferable to most colleges and universities. 

For more information, including details about scholarships and jobs, visit stonelab.osu.edu or call 614.292.8949. 

F.T. Stone Laboratory, The Ohio State University’s Island Campus, is the Lake Erie research and teaching laboratory for the Ohio Sea Grant College 

Program. Course credits are based on the Ohio State University semester credit system and are transferable to most colleges and universities. 

OHSU –B-096-18©2011

The Ohio Journal of - The Ohio Academy of Science

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